Friends with Benefits Scorpius and Rose Edition
by yaya3606
Summary: Rose is watching a romantic muggle movie and drinking with her best friend, Scorpius. He suggests a way to help her get over her recent break-up. What happens when best friends become friends with benefits? Inspired by romantic comedies where friends become friends with benefits and it gets very complicated. Now complete!
1. Chapter 1

_"How are you this evening, my dear?"_

 _"Very well… although I wish you would not call me 'my dear.'"_

 _Laughter. "Why?"_

 _"Because it's what my father always calls my mother when he's cross about something."_

 _"What endearments am I allowed?"_

 _"Well let me think…"_

* * *

Scorpius rolled his eyes. He downed the rest of his firewhisky in one gulp. He looked over at his friend and had to bite the inside of his mouth to keep from laughing.

She was mouthing the words of this ridiculous romantic muggle movie. As the credits rolled, she sighed heavily. She looked over at Scorpius who was pretending to gag. She hit him playfully.

"This is a beautiful movie! Were you even paying attention?"

"Rose, seriously? This is a movie about 'pride and discrimination' or something or other. Did you really think I would enjoy this? And it's the American version? The English accents are terrible!"

Rose looked back at Scorpius shocked. "Pride and Pre-ju-dice! It's a wonderful love story about getting past prejudices and pride and finding the one. Darcy and Elizabeth come from such different backgrounds but they still find each other." Rose sighed. "I only wish they showed what happened after the ending."

Scorpius poured himself another glass of Ogden's Old Firewhisky. "I know what happens. _Shagging_."

Feeling the effects of the delicious Malfoy Superior Red Wine (a name he readily admitted was unfortunate given his family's past) Scorpius brought over, Rose sighed and absentmindedly commented, "I miss sex."

Scorpius raised an eyebrow and looked at her, "we aren't missing Logan, are we?"

Rose rolled her eyes and started cleaning up the mess they had created in her living room. "No, Scorpius. I just haven't had sex in 6 months. Women like sex too ya know!"

"Rose, you could go to the club tonight and find an attractive bloke to shag. Instead, on your first free Friday night in ages, you're watching muggle corny movies with your best friend."

Rose wrinkled her nose. "I wish I could be as carefree as Lily or Dom but I can't do the whole one night stand thing. And you know my rule."

"Yea, yea, one month of continuous dating before sex."

"Yup. If I'm worth it, they should at least stay around for 30 days!"

"Sure, so even if you find a guy to date tonight, you're not going to have sex for another month?"

"Oh. I guess I didn't consider that."

Scorpius gave her a smug look as she stuck her tongue out at him. It had been awhile since she was single for this long. She had been with Logan for three years. She thought they were on their way to marriage 6 months ago. She shook her head and headed into the kitchen to wash the dishes.

Scorpius followed her, "Rose, you could let loose a little bit. No one will judge you if you have one meaningless shag!"

"I know, it's just probably not going to happen."

"And you keep turning down Lily's blind date set-ups too."

"I know, ironically, I don't think I'm ready for another serious relationship either."

Scorpius shrugged. He tried. Rose could really use the stress reliever he thought. She had become the top junior prosecutor at the Ministry over the past year, her first year after completing her law program. He knew it cost her many hours of sleep and probably was partially the reason why Logan, the arse, cheated on her. The wanker had no ambition and couldn't stand that Rose's attention was divided. Scorpius knew that her family and job came first for Rose which left her little to no free time. But still, that was no reason to cheat on someone as wonderful as Rose. If she hadn't annoyingly insisted on being Scorpius's friend their first year at Hogwarts, he probably wouldn't have his best guy friends, Albus Potter and Louis Weasley, or his "second father", Harry Potter. She was the sweetest and smartest woman he had ever known, second only to his mother.

Scorpius shook his head trying to break from his reverie. These weren't thoughts that best friends had about each other. He just felt bad that Logan had messed her up so bad he rationalized. As Rose washed the dishes facing away from him, he couldn't help but stare at her petite body. She had a nice firm butt with toned legs. The results of her obsession with muggle boxing. Her once frizzy, wild, bright red hair, now reached the small of her back in sleek waves of a light red / strawberry blonde color.

A ridiculous idea crossed Scorpius's mind. He had some liquid courage. Why not go for it? He took another gulp of firewhisky preparing himself for Rose's reaction.

"Umm Rose?"

"Hmm?" She turned to look at Scorpius pausing her cleaning.

"Have you thought about friends with benefits?"

Rose furrowed her brow thinking, "I guess? I can't really think of who I'd possibly start that type of relationship with. Ya know? Most of my guy friends are taken or in my family." She shuddered and gagged thinking about her cousins.

Scorpius coughed before taking another gulp of Firewhisky. "What about me?"

Rose turned quickly almost dropping the wine glass she was holding and felt herself blushing deeply. There was no denying that Scorpius was one of the best-looking men she knew. He had blue-grey eyes that got lighter or darker depending on his mood and short platinum blonde hair. Since graduating from Hogwarts, he also developed a little bit of scruff on his strong, angular jaw making him look even manlier and sexier. He towered over her at 6'3". Years of quidditch and then training to be an auror gave him a muscular and toned body.

"What?," she finally croaked out.

"You. Me. Friends with benefits," he spelled out for her.

"But you don't even find me fit… or even attractive at all."

Scorpius started laughing, "What… what in Merlin's beard gave you that idea?"

Rose crossed her arms, "Because in the 10 years I've known you, you haven't made any sort of move whatsoever. In fact, I think you may have hooked up with every good-looking girl in our year… which didn't include me."

"That's because you have crazy cousins who would have tortured then killed me revived me then tortured me again and then killed me again…"

"Okay, I get it, I get," but Rose still eyed him suspiciously. "What makes now different?"

"Well, were not teenagers anymore so I think even your crazy family has to admit that you can take care of yourself." He moved toward her placing his hands on the counter on either side of her body and leaned in so they were close, almost touching. Rose felt herself breathing quicker as she inhaled his scent. He smelled like mint mixed with the forest. How was that even possible? "We also have more private places to do… anything we want." He said with his trademark sexy smirk as he looked around her flat.

Rose noticed as his eyes trailed down from her face eyeing her chest under her loose blue tank top. He obviously seemed interested but she couldn't tell if it was because he had downed two or three glasses of Firewhisky and was just horny. Rose definitely didn't think she was ugly but in the decade that they had known each other she couldn't remember him ever indicating, even remotely, that he found her attractive.

She laughed nervously, "Scor, stop messing around. I'm not your type at all. What about me do you even find attractive?" She tried to make it seem like a rhetorical question but she couldn't deny that she was actually curious.

Scorpius leaned in closer his lips hovering over hers. Rose blinked trying to keep it together and not fall all over him so easily like all of his other slags.

Scorpius looked at her seriously, "Physically? Your eyes are the prettiest eyes I've ever seen. They are incredibly blue like the ocean. Your lips are full and are the color of pink bubble gum. You have freckles lightly sprinkled across your nose that you like to cover up with make-up but I find them adorable. When you find something really funny you smile and laugh not just with your lips but with your eyes. And of course you have a fit body with an amazing arse and chest."

"Oh."

"Yea."

Rose felt a rush as she looked into Scorpius's now dark grey eyes. She wanted this _badly_. She didn't know if it was the fact that she hadn't had sex since Logan or if it was the fact that she had had a crush on Scorpius from 4th year to 7th year. A crush she thought she got over. This could get messy she thought. But she really, really wanted him.

"IF we do this, we stay friends."

He did his stupid sexy smirk again knowing that she would go for it. "Right."

"We have to be honest with each other. I'm not ready for anything serious. At. All."

Scorpius moved his hands to rub the sides of her body. "Right."

"Any serious feelings and we end it and go back to just friends."

He made his way under her tank top. "Right."

Rose tried to ignore how amazing his slightly rough hands felt on her skin. It felt like her skin was on fire. "We can't be awkward with each other."

He started rubbing her nipples over the fabric of her bra. "Right."

Rose started to moan and Scorpius felt his jeans getting tight. She wasn't finished yet. "We… definitely… don't… tell… my… family." Rose said breathlessly as her nipples got hard.

Scorpius pulled her tank top over her head throwing it to the side. He unclasped her bra and also threw it to the side. Admiring her bare chest, he nodded his head and said, "right."

"My dad and my uncle are your bosses, are you sure you want to do this?"

Scorpius answered by leaning over and taking her right nipple into his mouth and sucking and biting. He massaged her left nipple with his hand. Rose threw her head back and moaned his name loudly.


	2. Chapter 2

Sweat rolled down Rose's already moist face as she tried to complete the task at hand. Her eyebrows furrowed with determination as she attempted to move through the pain.

"Come on Ro! One more set!" Lily's big brown eyes stared intensely as she bounced around Rose, her high ponytail swinging in every direction as she hollered "encouragements" and adjusted Rose's form.

Every time Rose went to the muggle gym with Lily, she instantly regretted it. Rose prided herself on being in shape but Lily was a professional quidditch player who trained and exercised every bloody day. Lily had a take-no-prisoners attitude and would expect (more like _demand_ ) that Rose do just as many exercises that she did.

"Rose Weasley!"

"What?!" Rose shot Lily a disgusted look, what was her problem? She was doing the bloody push-ups was she not? Sure, they were slow and her arse stuck up in the air (apparently, "atrocious form" according to Lily the Tyrant), but she was doing them!

Lily was now frozen staring with wide eyes at something on Rose's neck. "You have a _hickey_ on your neck!"

"SHHHHH!" Rose sprung up and grabbed Lily's hand and dragged her into the girl's locker room.

Once she was certain that they were alone, she dropped Lily's hand and turned facing her. "What are you doing?" she scream-whispered. "Rita Skeeter has her bloody spies everywhere!"

Lily looked back at Rose incredulously as she folded her arms. She responded without whispering, "seriously? In a muggle gym? And who cares if you're hooking up with someone? It's natural." Lily's eyes got wide again but this time with excitement, "wait! who _is_ this guy? why would Skeeter want to write about it? Is he _famous_?" Lily was now shrieking.

Rose started pacing. If she told Lily about hooking up with Scorpius last night, she would clearly be breaking one of her rules and twenty-four hours had not even passed. However, she also wanted advice on how to make sure things did not become awkward with Scorpius and although Lily was two years younger than Rose, Lily had a lot more experience with matters of the heart.

Rose stopped pacing, "okay look, if I tell you, you can't tell anyone! Not even Hugo!"

Lily rolled her eyes, "yes because he would _love_ to hear about his sister's sex life…"

Rose put her hand on her hip, "don't pretend like you don't tell each other _everything_."

"He's my best bud but if you don't want me to tell him, I won't." Lily shrugged, "he'll find out eventually anyway."

Rose knew Lily was technically right. Rose's younger brother had an uncanny ability to read people. He could pick up on the slightest emotional cues and then would snoop relentlessly until he figured out what was happening.

Rose sighed, "you're probably right but just keep it a secret for now."

"Fine. Get on with it then. I still don't know what secret I'm supposed to be keeping in the first place."

Rose cleared her throat, "I may or may not be hooking up with… _Scorpius Malfoy_."

Lily looked gobsmacked at first but then quickly a huge grin spread across her face, "wait, seriously? You finally told him you have feelings for him!"

Rose blushed slightly, "um, no... not exactly. I didn't tell him that because I _don't_ have feelings for him anymore. That was over during 7th year."

Lily rolled her eyes attempting to ignore the fact that Rose was still lying to herself, "but wait, if you did not tell him, what exactly happened?"

Rose looked around and muttered quickly, "franwitbenits"

"What?"

"We are friends with benefits," Rose stated more clearly.

The gobsmacked expression returned to Lily's face, "oh Merlin Rose." Lily shook her head, "this is a bad idea, this is a _really_ bad idea."

"What? You do it _all_ the time! There was Jack, there was Callum, there was..."

Lily put her hand up to stop Rose. "Yes, I've had a lot of _friends_... but my previous friends with benefits were not my _best friends_ or even remotely close friends so when it _inevitably_ ended, I did not care when we never hung out with each other... _ever_ again. I also was never in love with my previous friends with benefits."

"I am _not_ in love with him! And Lils, last night was _easily_ the best shag I've ever had in my life. Should I deprive myself of experiencing that again? _No_. I think not."

"Ro, believe me, I know the value of a good shag _but_ I also know if you want to still be friends with Scorp long-term, you've got to end this before it's too late."

"What happened to trying to get me to ask him out for 3 years?"

"Don't get me wrong here Ro, you should definitely be with Scorp. You two are perfect for each other. I've never seen you more comfortable with a guy outside of the family _including_ when things were going great between you and Logan the Arse."

"But?"

" _But_ , there's a difference between shagging him no strings attached and dating him. You should actually _date_ him when you're completely over Logan the Arse. I mean, how will you feel if he wants to stop shagging two months in? or wants to date other people? or doesn't feel as strongly as you feel about him? It could get very messy."

Rose sighed heavily. Lily's right she thought. Scorpius is her best guy friend. She couldn't jeopardize their decade old friendship for shagging. Even if it was the most incredible and insanely satisfying shag she ever had.

"I guess you're right, I will talk to him."

"And?"

"End it."

"Today. You should end it today, Rose."

Rose crossed her arms in defeat, "fine."

Lily smiled and linked arms with her cousin, "okay, great! Buy me a soy smoothie and a salad?"

Rose wrinkled her nose, "how about a fizzy drink and a burger?"

"No can do Ro," Lily pouted. "Coach Mum has us on a strict diet for the playoffs. Apparently, anything with _any_ flavor _at all_ is bad for us."

"Well despite the craziness, you have to admit there's a method to the madness." The quidditch season was not even finished yet and rookie coach, Ginny Weasley, had already led the Holyhead Harpies to their winningest season since Ginny herself was a chaser for the team. The team was even the underdog favorite to win the League Cup this year.

Lily scoffed, "easy for you to say, _you_ aren't being coached by and living with the madness. She won't even allow junk food in the house! Dad keeps sneaking out to eat 'real food.' I think he secretly wants me to move out so he can have Ginger Newts in the house again."

Rose belly laughed at the thought of her Uncle Harry, the "Chosen One" and Co-Head of the Auror Department, sneaking out to avoid the (admittedly very scary) wrath of his petite wife.

* * *

"Scor?"

Rose had just apparated to his flat. She had spent the afternoon practicing with Lily exactly what to say. She paced around his living room now regretting that she had not sent an owl before showing up. She probably could have apparated _outside_ of his flat and knocked on the front door but as best friends they had never done that. There was always an unspoken "open apparition" policy between them and Rose was now determined to keep things normal.

"Rose?"

Rose looked up to see Scorpius dressed in nothing but a Slytherin-green towel around his waist. He had clearly just walked out of the shower as his chest was glistening with water. Rose tried but failed to control her now sporadic breathing as she stared at his perfectly chiseled abs and arms.

He gave her one of those sexy smirks again and her knees nearly buckled under her. He walked toward her. "Was I supposed to be expecting you tonight?"

When Rose didn't respond he continued, "not that I don't mind you being here of course. This is actually the best surprise." He moved to cup her face with his hand.

Rose blinked a few times and stepped away from him, "uhhh, actually I came to talk to you."

He sighed and smiled weakly. "Uh oh, 'the talk.'"

Rose gave him a shy smile. "It's just that you're my best guy friend and I really don't want to jeopardize that." That wasn't even a quarter of the speech that Lily helped her prepare but it would have to do. Rose knew she wouldn't be able to stare at his glistening, chiseled body for much longer.

Scorpius nodded understandingly, he gave Rose a hug and whispered in her ear, "I get it but just so you know, last night was _amazing_ for me." Rose's stomach instantly filled with butterflies. It felt like those butterflies were doing a bunch of flip flops and somersaults while her stomach was also doing a bunch of flip flops and somersaults. He pulled apart and gave her what was obviously meant to be a peck on the lips but Rose put her arms around his neck deepening the kiss. As they started to snog heavily she reached down and pulled the towel off of him letting it drop to the floor.

He pulled apart from her looking confused. "I thought we weren't doing this?" he asked breathlessly.

Rose responded by pushing him onto his couch. She kneeled before him taking his throbbing manliness into her mouth. Scorpius closed his eyes and grunted loudly as she worked her tongue up and down his wand. Right as Scorpius felt himself about to explode, she suddenly stopped. He opened his eyes and watched as she unbuttoned and slid out of her shorts and then her lace panties. As Rose was about to climb on top of him, he stopped her by putting up his hand.

"Wait! I like being on top, let's switch."

Rose raised an eyebrow at him and put her hand on her hip, "seriously? Way to kill the mood!" She added sarcastically, "I can't even handle how romantic you're being right now."

He grinned, "I try, but seriously, let's just..." he moved to grab her but Rose stepped back still eyeing him disbelievingly.

"You were on top last night, I want to be on top tonight," she demanded.

"But that's how I do my best work! How am I supposed to be a good friend if I'm not dishing out the benefits correctly?"

"Wait, do your slags actually put up with this? Do you actually stop them mid-shag like this?"

"No! Are you mental? I wouldn't be this honest with my sla... I mean other _women_. They wouldn't like that, it's not very _romantic_. But we have this unromantic albeit very sexy thing going on here so I figure I can be honest. We should be honest about what we like."

Rose giggled, "that's true. Fair point but I also like being on top."

Scorpius sighed, he couldn't argue much longer. His manliness was throbbing heavily with need. "Fine but when I'm on the bottom I like quick, short strokes, alright?"

Rose nodded at him and saluted, "roger that Mr. Romance." With that, she climbed on him leading his manliness into her moist core. She smiled at him devilishly as she rode him with painfully slow, long strokes.

"Fuck Rose," he whispered as his head fell back again and his eyes rolled back in pleasure, "I'm... not going to last..."

Right before Rose let out a loud moan, Scorpius thought he heard a faint pop. He raised his head and opened his eyes.

"OH FUCK!" He held Rose's hips down to stop her from moving.

She started protesting, "HEY! I know I don't follow directions well but to me you seemed to be enjoying the..."

"WHAT THE BLOODY HELL IS GOING ON HERE!?"

Oh shit. Rose spun her head around to see her cousin, Albus Potter, completely red in the face and breathing heavily.


	3. Chapter 3

Scorpius pulled a t-shirt over his head and took a deep breath. Ten minutes ago, Rose had quickly grabbed her clothes, refusing to look at either Scorpius or Al, and disapparated. After quickly convincing Al to lower his wand, Scorpius ran to his bedroom.

He moved painfully slow as he continued to get dress. Scorpius knew Al well; they were basically brothers. The longer Al had to cool off, the better. Honesty was the best course Scorpius thought. Al would respect honesty and bluntness, he told himself. It wasn't like he had much of a choice, the bloke had caught them in the act for Merlin's sake.

He braced himself before going back into his living room. When he walked in, he saw that Al had helped himself to Scorpius's very expensive Swott Malt Whisky. He decided that now wasn't the best time to tell Al that he was saving that bottle for a special occasion.

Al saw Scorpius and grimaced, "so mate, you want to obliviate me now or make me suffer first?"

"I'm sorry mate but in my defense, I had no idea you were coming back from your investigation today."

Al rolled his eyes, "The Head of the French Division said there was no reason why I couldn't do the paperwork from my own desk. But back to you _defiling_ my cousin." Al shuddered in disgust. "So when did you finally realize you had feelings for Rose? When did you tell her? Before I left, we were saying that Rose wasn't ready to date yet. Remember?"

Scorpius looked up at the ceiling, shifted uncomfortably, and pushed his hands into his pockets. _Be_ _honest, be honest_. "Rose and I aren't exactly dating."

Al rubbed the bridge of his nose and closed his eyes, "what exactly does _that_ mean?"

"It means we are friendly... uh... friendlier... friends with benefits."

Al poured himself another glass of Scorpius's expensive whisky. "So let me get this straight. You're shagging my cousin even though you have zero feelings for her?"

Scorpius considered Al's question for a minute. He was determined not to lie to him. "I wouldn't say zero," he stated slowly still unable to look into Al's eyes.

"So you have feelings for my cousin but you're basically her _rebound_?"

Scorpius cleared his throat, "Uh. I guess so."

"Wow. I always knew you were mental but this is just... this is just... go-good luck with _that_. Are you still coming to my family's events?"

Scorpius finally met Al's gaze, "Bloke, are you _uninviting_ me?!"

"No, you _idiot_. I'm just wondering what you're going to do?"

"Do about what? We aren't going to start snogging in front of your family."

"Merlin Scorp! Have you met my grandmother? You know, the witch that knew every time we were just _planning_ pranks at the Burrow. The one that would send owls when she wanted us to come home after 'sneaking out.' She's going to know as soon as she sees you two. And you better hope Uncle Ron doesn't find out, you know the bloke that taught us everything we know about interrogating dark wizards. 'Don't worry about it Mr. Weasley, I'm just shagging your daughter... for fun!'"

Scorpius shot Al a dirty look, "I will just stay away from Rose around your family. Lou's birthday party is coming up. He would kill me if I missed it. I _can't_ not go."

Al shrugged, "you're right, your funeral either way." Al's green eyes still pierced into Scorpius.

"What else is on your mind, Al?"

"You gonna tell Rose you have feelings for her?"

Scorpius inhaled, "nope."

Al smirked at his best friend, "coward."

Scorpius rolled his eyes, "I'll tell Rose when you tell Ali Longbottom."

That wiped the smug look off of Al's face immediately, "touche. I can't believe this needs to be said but NO SEX IN THE BLOODY LIVING ROOM." Al eyed the couch and shook his head and feigned a distressed expression, "I can never sit there again. I really liked that couch. We, no, no, _actually_ , YOU have to buy us a new couch."

Scorpius rolled his eyes. "If my interrogation is over now, I'd like to hear about your case."

* * *

"Thanks Ali!" Rose grabbed her tea and honey scone from her short, blonde friend standing behind the counter. Alice Longbottom was the youngest shop owner in Diagon Alley but Rose was certain she was the most talented baker in existence. Ali's small bakery, "Piece of Cake", was a popular breakfast and lunch spot for Ministry employees and really all wizards because of the delectable baked goods and delicious hot drinks.

Ali smiled sweetly, "of course, dear! Your table's not taken yet, better hurry!"

Rose handed her friend the proper amount of galleons and sickles, ignoring Ali's protests about how she hated making friends pay, and made her way to a corner table grabbing a copy of the Daily Prophet on her way. Rose looked at the clock on the wall noting she still had a good half an hour before she had to head to work. As she was reading about the upcoming Minister for Magic elections, she heard a forced cough. She looked up to see Al staring at her awkwardly. They hadn't _actively_ been avoiding each other but, yesterday, they didn't watch Lily's game in a bar together like they normally did.

She set her paper down and smiled weakly, "hi Al."

"Hey."

"How are you and Scorpius?"

Al took a bite out of one of Ali's famous Crazyberry Pasties. "I'm great. Scrop on the other hand? I gave him three broken ribs and a black eye," Al stated nonchalantly while shrugging.

"WHAT? SERIOUSLY AL? ARE YOU MENTAL? HE'S YOUR..."

People were now staring. Al rolled his eyes, "calm down Rose, I was joking! Your lover boy is just fine."

"Not funny."

"I disagree, I think I got ya real good." Al gave her a smug look.

"You're such a wanker!"

Al looked serious now, "let's _never_ talk about _the incident_ but you're an adult and I'm always here when you need me."

Rose gave him a genuine smile, "I know." And she did know. While most of her male family members were busy plotting Logan's death when Rita Skeeter published pictures of him snogging a girl that looked nothing like Rose, Al took her to their favorite childhood spot, the Potter-Weasley beach house. He sat with her on the beach for hours while she went through cycles of crying, yelling, talking, and just sitting in silence. She knew Al probably wasn't comfortable with the whole friends with benefits thing but she also knew she could depend on him.

"So, which family members made the Prophet today?" Al asked.

Rose grinned, "Two actually. First, Lily made an amazing dive to catch the snitch against the Montrose Magpies yesterday!"

Al waved his hand dismissively, "that's not news, who else?"

"Better not say that to your mum and sister. They'll take turns bat-bogey hexing you."

Al rolled his eyes, "believe me, my sister knows she's an amazing quidditch player. She doesn't need anymore validation."

"Well, you're not going to like this next one."

"Tell me."

"Well you know the singer, Sam Finnigan?"

"Of course, Slammin' Sammy? He's the famous singer that likes to take off his shirt during performances and girls go absolutely mental," Al was shaking his head disapprovingly. "Wasn't he in our year?"

"Yes, he was."

"What does he have to do with our family?"

"Our favorite person in the world Rita writes, 'the not-so-innocent-anymore Lucy Weasley was seen passionately snogging Slammin' Sammy after his concert this weekend. Readers, my sources tell me that they then headed into his dressing room where noises of...'"

"Stop! EW! Stop! Stop it right now! _Lucy_? Seriously?"

"Calm down Potter, they've been secretly dating for months now. Molly told me weeks ago. They were trying to keep it out of the news. Poor Lucy though, Uncle Percy's not going to be happy about this."

" _I'm_ not happy about it either! What is she now? 17? All I want is for Lily and all of my female cousins to just never interact with blokes outside of the family. Is that too much to ask?"

Rose snorted, "sure, we'll get right on that for you. Ready to head to the Ministry?"

Al was now eyeing Ali. "I'll catch up in a little bit. I think Ali is about to take a break."

Rose gave him a small smile, "okay, I'll see you later."

As Rose left the shop, she turned and saw that Ali had taken her place at the table while Al was leaning in as if every word she spoke was gold. Rose noted that their fingertips were barely touching as they looked into each other's eyes, their cheeks faintly blushing. Rose swallowed hard as feelings of envy and then guilt for feeling envious of her friends' obvious love for each other threatened to produce tears in her eyes. She quickly made her way to the Ministry ready to bury herself in hours of work.


	4. Chapter 4

Ten minutes later, Rose entered a conference room and made her way to her usual seat by the head of the table. She pulled out a quill and zoned out as she waited for her name to be called. She doodled as she made a mental to-do list: send a note to Lucy, buy groceries, get a birthday gift for Louis...

"Alright, that's it for trial assignments! Get to it folks!" Rose snapped out of her daydream and looked around frantically as her fellow prosecutors left the room chatting about their new cases.

When she realized her boss was also making his way to the door, she stood up from her chair. Rose approached Mr. Jordan hesitatingly. While she knew he was still good friends with her dad, mum, and uncles, he was also the best known orator in the Wizarding World. He was the Lead Prosecutor at the Ministry and well-known for his effective cross examination and closing argument style in front of the Wizengamot. Lee Jordan was responsible for ensuring that a countless number of dark wizards remained in Azkaban for a very long time. No matter how many times he had been over for dinner when Rose was younger, he was still a legend.

"Mr. Jordan?" Rose asked in a small voice.

Lee gave her a warm smile, "Oh hi Rose! Walk with me to my office." His smile soon turned into a frown as something dawned on him, "Ms. Weasley, _why_ are you here?"

Rose's stomach dropped as she hurried behind him, had she been fired? "I work here, Mr. Jordan."

Lee sighed impatiently, "Yes, Rose, I know that but I thought I told you to take a vacation after your well-done Henry Goyle prosecution." When they reached just outside his office, he turned to his secretary, "Mary, can you clear my schedule this afternoon? I want to see if I can get a member of the Wizengamot to sign off on an early release for that teen involved in the Leaky Caldron robbery attempt." Mary nodded as Lee walked into his office.

Rose followed, "I did. I took the _whole_ weekend off."

Lee froze and turned to look at her as if she just turned into a hippogriff. "Merlin, you really are Hermione's child aren't you?" Before she could respond, he continued, "I'm not assigning you a new case this week Rose, you've been working nonstop for weeks, for months really."

"But Mr. Jordan..."

He put a hand up to stop her and handed her a manilla folder. "Not a _new_ case, but here's a closed case we need to check up on. It's nearly thirty years old but Yaxley claims we missed something. He says he heard some rumblings in Azkaban concerning this case but refused to tell us more since we wouldn't reduce his sentence. I think he's just getting old and doesn't want to spend the rest of his life behind bars. Partner with an auror, review the evidence, confirm the facts, and then _take a real vacation_!"

* * *

Rose approached an older woman sitting at a desk in front of two double doors. She had gray hair, dark eyes, and chocolate skin. Rose smiled at the sight of what she was wearing. She wore large round glasses paired with a lavender pink dress with flamingos all over it.

The woman, Miranda, was currently chastising a poor bloke. "For the last time, he's not in right now. But, I can pretty much guess what he's going to say about your problem: suck it up and do the work." The man scurried away muttering under his breath.

As Rose approached Miranda, her scowl quickly turned into a large grin.

"Hello there, Rosebud!"

"Hi Miranda, how was your weekend?"

"Quite lovely, thank you for asking!"

"Do you know when he'll be back?"

"Oh, don't be silly! He's here right now, you can go on in."

Rose smiled as she bid farewell to Miranda and walked through one of the two wooden double doors behind her. She smirked as she saw her dad and Uncle Harry in the sitting area of her dad's office laughing and drinking.

She put her hand on her hip, "drinking on the job are we? Mum won't like this!"

"Oi! Rosie, how are you? Your uncle and I are just two blokes celebrating! Let's not tell your mother," he smiled at her.

"Hi, Rosie," Uncle Harry greeted with a grin just as large as her father's.

"What are you guys celebrating? And why is Miranda lying for you again?" Rose asked as she took a sit in a light brown leather armchair by her dad.

"Well, she's lying because we are celebrating and we are celebrating because we just read Al's preliminary report from his uncover assignment. He and his team successfully brought down the leader of the Dark Arts rising in France. Completely unharmed too. Not even a scratch!" Ron and Harry clinked glasses.

Harry had been very worried about Al trying to infiltrate a dangerous wizard crime ring in France. Rose could tell by the recent bags under her uncle's eyes that this particular case had taken its toll on him.

Rose smiled at them, "that is very good news!"

"Anyways, what can I do for you, Rosie?" Ron asked.

"Mr. Jordan just gave me a closed case to look into and I need an auror. It's supposed to be open and shut so I was thinking Al could use the break."

"Good thinking but Al has a mountain of paperwork to do. He won't be able to take another case until he's written a detailed account of everything that happened while uncover," Harry explained.

Rose shrugged, "Just thought I'd try before going to the assignment board. I'll find a rookie with a small caseload." Rose got up to leave.

"Actually dear, sit down, give me a sec?" Ron asked and Rose obliged.

Her dad left the room as Rose caught up with her Uncle Harry. As he was telling her about the woes of "clean eating" in his household, she heard the sound of the door opening and closing behind her. As she turned her head, her eyes widened and her eyebrows rose. _Shit_.

Scorpius stood near the door of the office as Ron reclaimed his seat. Rose's breath caught in her throat as she quickly took in Scorpius's blue slim fit, tailored button down shirt paired with black suit pants.

She could _not_ work with Scorpius. Work was supposed to be a distraction free zone where she forgot about her problems and she was staring at a massive, hot pink hippogriff of a distraction.

Scorpius greeted Rose with a smile that she quickly looked away from so she didn't swoon like an idiot. He turned toward Harry and nodded, "Good morning, Mr. Potter." He turned to Rose's father, "what can I do for you, Mr. Weasley?"

Ron wrinkled his nose, "I keep telling you there are too many Mr. Weasleys. Call me Ron!"

"Right, sorry, sir!" Scorpius replied.

"'Sir' is not much better Scorpius," Harry teased with a smirk.

Ron rolled his eyes and gestured towards his daughter, "Rose needs an auror to help review a closed case. You two have been together before, right?"

Rose started choking while Ron gave her a concerned look. She internally panicked, _shit! he knows, he knows that we've been sleeping together!_ she thought.

Scorpius quickly chimed in, "yes sir— err — Ron, most recently for questioning an informant at Azkaban a month or two ago. Rose used it for the Goyle prosecution." Scorpius quickly shot Rose a get-it-together look before looking back at Ron.

"Great, well, Rosie there ya have it! You and Scorpius will work together again."

Rose protested as she jumped up from her sit, "you know, dad, this case is supposed to be open and shut. I probably won't be filing any new charges. I wouldn't want to take Scorpius away from something more important like current cases. Why don't you give me a rookie? Actually, I'll go find one myself."

"Nonsense Rosie," Harry spoke up, "some open and shut cases can become terribly complicated and dangerous. Scorpius is one of our best junior aurors. Only the best protection for my niece."

Ron was nodding vigorously in agreement.

Rose sighed heavily, "isn't that nepotism?" She was becoming desperate, "won't people file complaints?"

"Ay 'Arry, where do those complaints go?" Ron asked feigning curiosity and trying not to smile.

"Hmm well, Ron, I think they go to the Heads of the Department," Harry responded before laughing.

"Scary blokes those two," Ron commented before joining in his best friend's laughter.

Rose rolled her eyes. She couldn't believe that people _actually_ feared these two. "But Dad…", she pleaded.

"Rose, if I didn't know better, I would think you were trying to avoid me," Scorpius said smiling.

Rose shot him a death glare arguably more intense than the way her mother looked at her father when she was particularly livid at him. Scorpius seemed completely unfazed.

"Rose and I will get on swimmingly and tie this case right up," Scorpius said to Ron and Harry while placing a hand on Rose's shoulder.

Rose prayed to _Merlin_ that no one noticed the change in the color of her cheeks as her body responded to Scorpius's slight contact.


	5. Chapter 5

Scorpius walked out of his boss's office with Rose hot on his tail. He took a deep breath and prepared himself for her wrath as he walked a short distance then opened the door to his office for her.

He had barely walked in and closed the door before she hissed her cheeks red with fury, "what are _doing_?"

Scorpius knew that logic was the only way to reason with Rose when she got this mad. He responded slowly and calmly, "I'm following my boss's orders to work on a case with a prosecutor."

"I know but I could've gotten him to assign someone else!"

"Rose, how bad does it look if you tell your dad you don't want to work with me? He knows we've been friends for more than a decade. If we suddenly have a problem teaming up on cases, he'll know something's up."

She stared at him with her eyebrows furrowed before answering, "fine, but you have to agree not to try anything with me at work. Got it?"

Scorpius knew from experience that he should have responded quickly and fervently with a "yes, of course" or "anything you say!" But he couldn't help looking her up and down. She wore a grey pencil skirt that fell right above her knees and a silk light pink shirt with a very modest plunging neckline under her blazer.

Her blue eyes narrowed furiously at him as she shrieked, "ARE YOU STARING AT MY CHEST RIGHT NOW? AT WORK?"

Before he could respond, they both jumped as a stack of papers levitated revealing Al behind his very messy side of the office. "I think when my cousin's chest is the topic of conversation, it's time for me to leave. I'm going to go work in my dad's office. You two should be ashamed," he quipped. He gave them both disgusted looks as he left the office his paperwork following him.

Scorpius turned his attention back to Rose. She was clearly forcing herself not to laugh at Al. She took a deep breath and pointed a manicured nail at Scorpius. "New rule: no distractions, namely _sexual_ ones, at work."

Relieved that Al's ridiculousness had broken through the tension, he smiled devilishly at her and put his hands up in mock surrender. "I would never," he stated sarcastically.

Scorpius took a seat behind his immaculately clean desk and motioned for Rose to sit in his guest chair. "Shall we get to work?" he asked.

Rose rolled her eyes, handed Scorpius the manila folder, and took a sit. "This is the case that Mr. Jordan gave me to review. It seems open and shut to me but we should still grab the evidence boxes and see if there are any loose ends."

Scorpius scanned the file as he commented, "interesting. Yaxley's talking? Has he ever talked before?"

"No, I noted that too. Mr. Jordan seems to think he just wants a shorter sentence but he's never tried this before."

Scorpius stared into space thoughtfully and then squinted his eyes, "I wonder if I should ask my dad if he can talk to my Lucius about this. Maybe see if he can find anything out. Yaxley probably still had ties to Lucius thirty years ago."

Rose reached across Scorpius's desk grabbing his hand as she spoke softly, "no way, were not making your father talk to Lucius after almost five years of no contact." She smiled warmly at him, "we are pretty smart, no? We'll figure it out if there's something there. We won't need him."

Scorpius leaned in toward Rose as his thumb stroked the top of her hand. His lips hovered near hers as she inhaled. She internally chastised herself as she realized she was already about to break the rule she established _less than five minutes ago_ but she was unwilling to turn away. His lips were just... heavenly.

Just as their lips were about to meet, they heard a small squeal of excitement. Rose quickly removed her hand from Scorpius's grasp and stood up turning a bright shade of red.

"Oh please, don't let me stop you!" A woman with a small, delicate frame was standing at the door in a grey, tailored dress suit with a salmon-colored cardigan. Not one piece of her dark brown hair was out of place in its curly bun.

Rose gave the woman a quick hug refusing to meet her intense gaze. "Hi, Mrs. Malfoy," she greeted the woman.

Astoria continued to look at her beaming. "Rose, it's _obviously_ been too long, would you like to join my son and me for lunch today?"

Rose bite her lip still refusing to look at Astoria, "I actually have lunch plans but thank you." She addressed Scorpius in the most professional voice she could muster, "I will grab the evidence boxes and send you a note with which conference room we'll be set up in." She nodded curtly first at Scorpius and then at his mother.

Astoria lightly cupped Rose's elbow before she could make her escape. "Rose you really should have dinner with us soon. I've completely redecorated the Manor since the last time you visited. Scorpius never tells me anything about his girlfriends. I'd love to hear about your relationship with my son." She winked as she said the last part.

Rose turned an even brighter shade of red as she nodded and finally made her escape.

Scorpius's eyes were closed as he rubbed his temples with his fingers. When he opened his eyes, his mother was staring at him expectantly. "We are not dating, mum."

Astoria pouted as she crossed her arms, "and why not? You _seem_ rather close."

Scorpius shook his head, "I'm not talking about this with you. I'm not doing it."

"Scorpius when your father and I started..."

Scorpius shook his head more vigorously, "no, no, _no_. Don't make me lose my appetite, mum."

Astoria rolled her eyes, "come on, let's go, dear." Scorpius sighed heavily preparing to spend his lunch hour dodging his mother's questions about Rose.

* * *

Scorpius ran his hand through his hair as he breathed heavily in frustration. The "open and shut" case had turned into a two-week monster. It was a case involving the torture and murder of two muggle-born children soon after Voldemort's fall when some of his followers were still trying to further his cause. The crime was horrifying but it was supposed to be an easy case because Alecto Carrow, the dark wizard responsible for the crime, was bold. The murders were committed during the day in the middle of a wizard residential area. There were ten witnesses and an auror was able to track down and kill Carrow before he murdered anyone else.

However, despite the crime occurring thirty years ago, when Scorpius and Rose re-interviewed all the witnesses, their stories were eerily the same. The same facts and the same detailed descriptions down to the last word. After evaluations at St. Mungo's Hospital, it was clear that the witnesses' memories had been altered. Scorpius and Rose were now attempting to find an accomplice. There was no other plausible way to explain the facts. Carrow died (they even checked and re-checked the body) shortly after killing his second victim so he clearly couldn't have altered the memories of the witnesses.

"Maybe we should talk to Auror Franks," Scorpius suggested. "He's retired now but he's the one that chased and killed Carrow. Maybe he'll remember something." When Rose didn't respond, he turned to look at her. Her bright blue eyes were staring at him. She looked deep in thought as she bite her bottom lip. As he stared at her full lips, Scorpius had to remind himself that "sexual distractions" were not allowed according to Rose. He shook his head forcing himself to focus on something other than her lips.

"Rosie?" he asked. "You doing okay?"

"Huh? I mean... yes,... of course." _I'm just thinking about shagging you._

Rose had been staying late at work with Scorpius for two weeks straight. She knew his routine down to a science. At around 6:15 pm, he would take a deep breath and loosen his tie. Five minutes later, he would unbutton the top button of his designer white or blue button down shirt. Ten minutes after that he unbuttoned another button, revealing the upper part of his chiseled chest. He also rolled up his sleeves exposing his strong forearms and the tips of his muscular biceps. By 7 pm, his hair was sexily disheveled as he kept running his hands through it. Rose also noted how sexy his facial expressions were as he deeply concentrated on whatever case document he was looking at.

Rose tried desperately not to stare but she couldn't control herself. In the last two weeks, they had sex everyday, multiple times a day. In the morning, at night, and they would even sneak off to one of their apartments during lunch breaks some days. Scorpius had tried to fool around in the cramped conference room in the evening sometimes when nearly all Ministry workers had left but that's where Rose drew the line. It was _work_ for Merlin's sake and Rose wasn't some common slag. But her resolve was thinning. She naively assumed that the novelty and excitement of having sex with Scorpius would wane. In truth however, the more toe-curling, moan-inducing orgasmic sex they had, the more she wanted, no, _needed_.

It was annoyingly frustrating. Work _always_ came first for Rose. She didn't like distractions. She didn't even let Logan distract her like this and she was on track to marry the bloke a few months ago.

"Maybe we should get food?" Scorpius asked breaking through her thoughts. Rose's heart fluttered. _Like on a date, is he asking me out on a date right now?_ "We can order Chinese again... actually I think Ali's shop should still be open. She just added a delivery service, right?" Rose hummed in agreement as she controlled the rate of her stupid, stupid heart. _Take-out... how romantic._

Scorpius summoned a take-out menu and looked it over. Rose stared at his chiseled cheekbones and sexy stubble as her head angled to the side in admiration.

"Do you know what you want?," he asked.

" _Sex,_ " Rose thought to herself.

Scorpius stiffened and his head shot up as he looked at Rose with wide eyes.

"Shit, I said that out loud," Rose commented more to herself.

A grinned slowly appeared across Scorpius's face, "yes, yes you did."

Rose rubbed the back of her neck, looked away, and cleared her throat before stating, "I think I want the vegetarian panino with a side salad."

Still grinning, Scorpius moved to sit next to her. He placed a hand on her thigh. "Is that before or after the shagging?"

Rose took a deep breath trying to steady herself and attempting to ignore the chills traveling up and down her spine as she looked at Scorpius. He moved his hand further up her thigh. "Do you want me to stop?" he asked with bated breath.

All Rose had to do was nod her head to end this. She knew if she just told him or indicated affirmatively, he would stop, they'd get back to work for an hour or so, and they'd likely shag later at either of their apartments. The extremely logical side of Rose liked this plan. She could maintain some semblance of dignity this way. The other side of Rose felt differently. This new, somewhat reckless side of Rose wanted to give in to her desires.

For once, she was tired of choosing logic. Being with Scorpius was freeing and invigorating and she loved it. She shook her head in response to Scorpius's question. "Don't stop," she whispered.

Scorpius quickly casted a silencing charm. He lightly stroked her neck with his fingers before gently sucking and lightly biting the spot he knew was most sensitive. He became hard with need as she moaned and whimpered. As their lips met, she made quick work of the buttons on his shirt. Scorpius responded far less delicately by ripping her button down shirt open as buttons flew everywhere.

She lightly pushed him away appraising the damage to her shirt. She playfully scolded him, "seriously Scor?"

He smiled back at her innocently, "I'll repair it for you."

She pouted as she stood up and urged him to get up. She unbuckled the belt he was wearing and pulled his pants and boxers down. She smacked his ass, "but it won't be the same."

He smirked as he hiked up her skirt. He toyed with and pulled off her red lace panty, "fine, I'll buy you a new one."

"No, because you'll get me something two times more expensive and..." Her protests were cut short as he slipped a finger between her wet folds. He covered her mouth with his own as she moaned again.

He removed his fingers covered in her wetness and lifted her up and placed her on the edge of the conference table positioning himself between her legs. She reached for him and guided him toward her entrance.

His dark grey eyes met her deep blue ones as he teased her at her entrance. Her eyebrows furrowed as she whined, "come on Scor, you're killing me!"

He smirked at her as he entered her folds. Her hips jerked forward and her upper body fell back in pleasure as he lightly gripped her upper thighs. They moved in sync as Rose wrapped her legs around his waist. Rose closed her eyes as she reveled in the feeling of utter carelessness that they were currently exhibiting.

With each thrust somehow feeling more pleasurable than the last, her toes soon curled as she felt an overwhelming tingling sensation throughout her body and a wave of bliss washed over her. Scorpius soon followed her over the edge as he felt her folds squeeze around his manliness. They breathed heavily as they separated and waved their wands cleaning themselves and fixing wardrobe mishaps.

Scorpius gave her a smug smirk and pointed to himself, "I guess 'distractions' are allowed now, huh?"

Rose rolled her eyes trying to suppress a smile, "you're absolutely _maddening,_ I still don't understand why women put up with you."

He winked at her in response, "based on the sounds you were just making, I think you know _exactly_ why."

Finally able to focus, Rose grabbed a folder from an evidence box and tossed it to Scorpius, "let's set up an interview with Auror Franks."


	6. Chapter 6

A week later, Scorpius and Rose were walking down a sidewalk in a small town outside of London.

"Do you want to take the lead on this one?" Scorpius asked removing his sunglasses and looking around.

"Sure," Rose responded, "jump in if you want to add anything."

Scorpius nodded in assent as they approached a house near the end of the quiet street. The house along with its neighboring houses was light brown with a brick chimney and red tiled roof. Scorpius and Rose approached a man kneeling near a flowerbed and patting soil on newly planted flowers.

"Good morning Auror Franks? I'm Rose Weasley and this is my co-worker, Scorpius Malfoy."

The man looked up at them using his hand to shield his face from the sun. He had grey hair, dark brown eyes, pale skin, and hard features. He also had faint scars along his arms and neck. Rose assumed they had been from when he worked as an auror. A small smile broke across his harsh features.

"I'm not an auror anymore, Ms. Weasley and you can call me Eric. Why don't we sit on the porch?" He stood up and the duo followed him to a round table with chairs.

As they sat down, Franks asked, "so what can I do for you two?"

"We just have a couple of questions about the Alecto Carrow case," Rose replied.

Franks shifted uncomfortably and Scorpius thought he caught a flash of something in his eyes. "When you sent an owl saying you needed to talk to me, I didn't realize it would be about Carrow. It's pretty easy. I basically caught him in the act."

"We're just taking a second look at the case. Can you tell us what led you to the scene?" Rose asked.

"Sure, Carrow was an idiot but a nasty bloke. He murdered two children right outside my house, in my neighborhood." Franks was now grinding his teeth, "I was napping and I woke up when I heard the commotion, there was screaming and yelling. I ran out of my house to see what was happening. I only wish I had gotten there sooner."

"What did you see when you ran out of your house?"

"I saw Carrow standing over the two boys and he had his wand pointed at a little girl. He was standing right over there." Franks nodded his head toward a round cul-de-sac at the end of the street. Rose looked around the neighborhood recognizing certain landmarks from a map and diagram of the crime scene she had been studying for a couple of weeks.

"What did you do when you saw him?"

Franks started wringing his hands as he recalled the memory. "I casted a disarming spell toward him but he spun around and dived before it hit him. I don't remember every single spell that I casted or he casted but I remember injuring him in his right leg. I think that's why he didn't just disapparate, he was too injured."

"You mentioned in your report that you pursued him as he ran off, where did he run off to?"

"Those trees over there." Franks stated quickly pointing to a small lot of trees across from his house. "I was in pursuit for awhile because he kept hiding and ducking behind trees. I was nervous about the safety of the people in the neighborhood so I was casting spells to kill and one hit." Rose noted how matter-of-factly he was speaking. She wondered if it was a coping mechanism.

"We think while you were in pursuit, an accomplice was at the scene altering the memories of witnesses." Rose showed him a number of photographs. "Do you remember anyone besides these people at the scene? These people use to live in this neighborhood, maybe you remember someone who seemed out of place?"

Franks took a deep breath as he studied the photos, "I'm sorry I can't remember. Maybe I could have remembered back then. This was before Potter and Weasley took over as Head Aurors so we weren't required to debrief or take extensive notes right after incidents. We were just happy to round up as many death eaters and other dark wizards as possible. After Voldemort died, there was a long period of time when his followers were still on the loose. We weren't thinking about fair trials and evidence back then, we were focused on catching killers."

From the corner of her eye, Rose saw Scorpius shift uncomfortably. She wondered if hearing about Voldemort made him uneasy.

Scorpius spoke up for the first time, "I think that's it for our questions, right Rose? We should probably head out soon." Rose looked up at him furrowing her brow in confusion.

"Actually," Rose chimed in looking back at Franks, "I was wondering if you knew his motive for killing the children?"

Franks shrugged, "no, I think I always assumed he was trying to achieve some type of mud-,I mean, muggle-blood 'cleansing.' Just trying to further Voldemort's mission in some way, I guess?"

Scorpius gently squeezed Rose's hand under the table signaling that they should leave. Rose thought this was strange. Normally, he chimed in with his own questions and normally, he let her ask more questions. She tried to remember if he ever clammed up in classes when talking about Voldemort and the Second Wizarding War. He seemed relatively fine in class, she thought. What was she missing?

"Looks like we should get going now. Thank you for your time," Scorpius stated calmly.

"Not a problem," Franks responded, "there are safety charms around my property but you can disapparate right outside the front yard boundary."

Scorpius and Rose stood up to leave. Rose hadn't realized how dark it had gotten since they arrived. She hadn't even noticed the sunsetting but it was already nighttime. She also felt herself getting progressively colder. Rose was surprised realizing that she felt a biting and bitter coldness wash over her. While turning to Scorpius to see if he felt the same way, she noticed the lot of trees across the street again. She noted the height of the trees as she walked slower. Something was bothering her about the lot. _Something_ was off about those trees. She searched through her photographic memory trying to find a link.

Something clicked right before Rose and Scorpius reached the boundary of the property. Rose thought out loud, "wait, I've studied the map and diagram of this town, there were no trees in that lot when this happened. Just a large clearing there."

"Rose," Scorpius whispered pleadingly, " _stop,_ please."

Rose turned to respond to him. From the corner of Rose's eye, she saw Franks draw his wand. She then heard him bellow, "CRUCIO!" Scorpius shoved her hard pushing her out of the way of the spell's trajectory. As Rose hit the ground, she shivered feeling even colder. She looked up to see Scorpius and Franks dueling. Both well-trained wizards, there was a back and forth stream of spell lights and shields. Fighting the chill that had now reached her bones, Rose struggled to stand up. She pointed her wand toward Franks yelling, "STUPEFY!"

Too focused on dueling with Scorpius, Franks did not move fast enough to block Rose's spell. His limbs went stiff and he crashed backwards into the porch.

The cold finally became overwhelming for Rose as a number of dark-hooded figures surrounded her. Although she had only seen them in her textbooks, Rose quickly came to the realization that she was being attacked by dementors. As she tried to raise her wand, she heard Scorpius calling her name. She looked for him but all she could see were the dark figures moving around her.

Rose felt her happy memories slowly but painfully slipping away. She could not remember what it was like to feel joy or peace. She felt frightened as she remembered when her father agreed to return to the Auror Department. She felt despair as she remembered when he went missing for a week tracking a dark wizard during her fourth year at Hogwarts. She felt sadness as she remembered seeing her parents cry on the anniversary of her Uncle Fred's death. She felt loneliness as the picture of Logan kissing another woman replayed over and over in her head. Rose did not know how long these memories played in her head. She only knew that it felt painful and hopeless. It felt like they were happening presently and all at once even though she knew they were just memories.

As Rose's knuckles became white from balling her hands into fists in an effort to manage the pain, she heard a loud booming voice shouting, " _EXPECTO PATRONUM._ " Everything then faded to black.


	7. Chapter 7

A/N: I wanted to take a moment to thank everyone who has posted a review! I don't love this chapter like I love some of my past chapters but I'm determined to finish this story because of your encouragements ;). If you don't like it either (or like it :P), tell me in reviews :). They absolutely keep me going!

* * *

Harry peered through the interrogation room window as he watched Eric Franks waking up from his stunned state. Harry looked over at Scorpius who was staring blankly at a wall and tapping his foot nervously.

Harry sighed. "I know she's your friend, Scorp but now's the best time to see if he'll confess. You can head over soon, okay?"

Scorpius nodded in understanding. Harry continued, "I'm going to head in and give him his rights. If he waives them, I want you to question him."

Scorpius's head shot up. He quickly responded, "Sir, I don't know if..."

"Scorp, I know you can do this. Take a minute and collect yourself. I remember him from when I started here. He's a cocky tosser. If I remember correctly, criminals were always getting mysteriously injured in his custody. Get him angry and make him defend himself. But you stay calm," Harry stated knowingly.

Scorpius nodded again. Harry patted him on the shoulder and stated, "I know you're angry and also nervous about Rose. I am too but let's get as much information as we can." Scorpius watched as Harry entered the room. He then watched through the interrogation window. His muscles tightened and his jaw set as he saw Franks. He watched as Franks foolishly waived his rights.

Scorpius took a deep breath and pushed images of Rose's lifeless body out of his head. He grabbed an evidence folder and slowly walked in the room. He took a seat next to Harry across from Franks. Franks stared blankly at Scorpius. Scorpius forced himself to remain calm and he stared back expressionless. Harry pretended to look through the evidence file and reclined in his chair.

Scorpius and Franks continued their staring contest until Scorpius spoke slowly in a low, calm voice, "you are a coward."

The chains around Franks wrists rattled as he slammed his fists into the table. "WHAT did you just say to me?" Franks was breathing heavily as anger flashed across his eyes. Scorpius remained calm as he stared at Franks while Harry continued to read the file as if nothing of note was happening.

Knowing he had Franks on the defensive, Scorpius continued, "You are a coward. The Death Eaters forced you to do their bidding even _after_ Voldemort was defeated."

Franks laughed bitterly. "NO one _forced_ me to do anything," Franks nearly shouted.

Understanding dawned on Scorpius. "You did their bidding _freely_ because they recruited you. They recruited you as an auror."

Franks looked smug. "Some thirty years ago, some Death Eaters approached me," he confirmed.

"Some death eaters approached you," Scorpius repeated slowly hoping Franks would elaborate.

"Yea!" Franks continued while staring at Harry now, "they convinced me of the pureblood cause... while also offering me money and power. _I_ worked my arse off to help save the wizarding community and for what? So a 17-year old boy and his sidekicks could get all the credit. HA! I was happy to switch sides."

Scorpius knew from his dad's horrifying stories that becoming a Death Eater wasn't that simple. "What did they make you do?" Scorpius asked.

Franks slammed his fists on the table again. "They didn't _make_ me do _anything_! They _invited_ me to torture and kill two mudbloods from my neighborhood. In the middle of the day. With witnesses."

"With witnesses?" Scorpius probed as he crossed his arms and raised an eyebrow.

"To prove my usefulness. Kill the mudbloods then obliviate the neighbors."

Scorpius knew he had to get him mad again to make him _actually_ admit to committing the murders. Scorpius scoffed, "I guess you were pretty useless. Carrow committed the murders and you just did a clean-up job, a poor one at that."

Franks turned red and bellowed while looking Scorpius in the eyes, "CARROW WAS THE USELESS ONE! I MURDERED THOSE MUDBLOODS!"

Harry, as if he were reading Scorpius's mind pulled out two photos of the children's bodies at the scene of the crime and placed them on the table. Franks looked down at the photos and paled. Scorpius didn't look away from Franks's face. "You murdered two _kids_ and you couldn't even do a proper memory charm," Scorpius stated cooly.

"Carrow was supposed to make sure the witnesses didn't do anything stupid," Franks hissed, "but he let one of them send an owl to the Ministry saying there was a murder in progress."

"He almost blew your cover," Scorpius noted.

"Right! So I killed him and altered the witnesses' memories for cover. I also convinced my neighbors to move out of the neighborhood. It was bloody impressive," Franks bragged.

"You needed to empty your neighborhood so there were no memory triggers for the witnesses," Scorpius stated trying to make his guess sound confident.

"Sure, something like that," Franks smiled back at him. Scorpius noted that he was calming down again.

Scorpius stared back at him and forced himself to remain relaxed. "You're a lackey amongst a dying, now insignificant group of criminals," Scorpius stated cooly.

Franks face became red as he slammed his fists into the table again. "I'm NO lackey! When Shacklebolt removed dementors from Azkaban, _I_ was the one that got forty of them to hide out in my neighborhood all while your PATHETIC Auror Department didn't know. _I've_ been recruiting wizards! _I've_ been waiting for the perfect time. I WILL BE THE MOST POWERFUL DARK WIZARD! I WILL FINISH VOLDEMORT'S MISSION!"

Scorpius and Harry stared back at Franks unable to hide the looks of pure shock on their faces. Neither of them expected a confession of this magnitude.

Franks continued yelling at them, "IF THAT LITTLE BITCH HADN'T MEDDLED IN MY AFFAIRS, I COULD STILL BE PLANNING! DECADES OF PLANNING DOWN THE DRAIN! I HOPE THAT LITTLE BITCH SUFFERS! I HOPE SHE..."

Scorpius quickly stood up his hands balled into fists. He stared down Franks as he felt his blood boiling.

"Scorpius, I think you should leave. Now," Harry stated in a cool tone. Scorpius knew this tone. He recognized it from when he and Al would do stupid things as teenagers. It was the stop-what-you-are-doing-right-now-before-I-ground-you-for-life tone. Not wanting to lose his job, Scorpius released his fists and walked out of the room. He paced in front of the interrogation room window trying to calm himself. Harry soon opened the door and approached Scorpius.

"I'm so sorry, Mr. Potter," Scorpius mumbled while pacing.

"Scorpius! Why are you apologizing? You were bloody brilliant in there!" Harry exclaimed.

Scorpius froze and looked up to see Harry's green eyes twinkling with pride. Scorpius responded shocked, "I... I... lost my cool. I didn't remain calm."

"Calm long enough to get him to admit that he killed two children and is planning to be the next Voldemort. He's absolutely mental but you made our job a lot easier. I'll be notifying the aurors that are searching his house to also search the rest of the neighborhood," Harry said while writing a note and handing it to a secretary. "To be sent immediately," he told the woman.

Scorpius took a deep breath and gave Harry a weak smile. Harry continued, "did you realize you fended off forty dementors? You didn't put that in your summary statement."

"Oh, I guess I forgot to add how many." Scorpius rubbed his forehead embarrassed by his uncharacteristic lack of attention to detail. "I just wanted to get Rose..." Images of watching Rose surrounded by a sea of hooded figures came flooding back to Scorpius.

Harry snapped Scorpius out of his trance. "Listen," Harry interjected, "you've had a long day. Why don't you go home and try to sleep some? I can send you an owl if anything changes."

Scorpius wanted nothing more than to watch Rose at the hospital. However, he knew that Harry wouldn't ask him to go home unless he really needed it. Plus, Scorpius wasn't family so he doubted he'd be able to see her anyway. "Sure," Scorpius stated, "please, let me know if there is any news."

"Of course," Harry responded before disapparating.


	8. Chapter 8

A/N: Alright a couple of A/N so bear with me here :).

1\. I was trying to decide between this chapter and the last chapter in terms of how to reveal Franks's craziness. I decided on the interrogation but then I let my friend read this chapter and she loved the Golden Trio goodness so I decided to shorten it and add this one too. So this chapter is dedicated to you, Jasmine :P!

2\. I've encouraged people in my summary, profile, and the last author's note to be very honest with me and I want to continue that attitude. Soooo I'll ignore one particularly harsh and nonconstructive critique ;) (in my opinion) and instead say THANK YOU TO EVERYONE THAT HAS REVIEWED (both positive and negative but constructive)! I started listing individual shout-outs and it became quickly ridiculous but just know that I read ALL of them and I'm sooo thankful for them. So I also dedicate this chapter to all of you lovely people who have followed, reviewed, and favorited!

3\. In this chapter, I took a little creative liberty emphasizing the link between love and the strength of Harry's magical abilities in a canon moment but *shrug*, I thought it made my story cuter :). This chapter's short but there's a particularly long chapter coming up soon (the chapter after the next according to my outline)! Alright, onto this chapter!

* * *

Rose felt like she was waking up from a deep, deep sleep. She could hear and smell but she still couldn't see anything. Was she still dreaming? It smelled funny. It smelled like Hugo and Louis when they met up with her after medical training. It smelled very _clean_ , she decided. She heard what seemed to be someone pacing back and forth on a tile floor. She heard a door opening and then heard voices.

"Ron, calm down, she's going to be okay, the Healer said she should be up at any point now."

"I know, 'Mione, I know. I just wouldn't have let Scorpius take her if I knew dementors were going to be there. I feel like an idiot, our intel was so wrong. We had no idea he was working for Death Eaters. And while being a bloody auror? What a tosser!"

"How were you supposed to know, dear? Didn't he retire when you and Harry were still junior aurors? And this is why Ministry policy dictates that solicitors partner with aurors when there is a potential for criminal interactions. It's a good thing Scorpius was there."

"Thank _Merlin_ Scorpius was there. He saved her life!"

Rose head the door open and close again.

"Ay, Arry."

"Hi, Harry."

"Hi guys, how's our Rosie doing?"

"She's fine, she should be waking up at any moment now. Course Ron's still freaking out."

"Can you blame me?!"

"Nope, if it was Lily, I'd be going mental myself."

"I was just telling Ron, thank goodness that Scorpius was there."

"Oh yea, he'll be getting a promotion soon."

Rose could hear her dad laughing. "Arry, as much as I love the guy for saving my daughter, we can't just promote our favorites."

"Ahh, but you haven't heard all of the details yet. I just watched Scorpius interrogate Franks. He was bloody brilliant! I know the man's good but he was on fire this time."

"What did he find out?"

"Remember the forty dementors that went missing when Shacklebolt removed them from Azkaban?"

"Yea, you mean when we were junior aurors? We were trying to track them for years. So some of them were hiding near Franks?"

"Nope. ALL of them were hiding in Franks's neighborhood. All of his neighbors had moved out after the two children were murdered on their street. Franks killed the children and he covered it up by altering memories and killing Carrow."

"With that neighborhood empty after the murders, it's a perfect spot for dark wizards and _beings_ to hide in plain site. Near an auror 'hero' no less," Rose's mum reasoned.

"Yup," Harry agreed, "nobody ever thought to question him after he killed a known Death Eater. Apparently, he was trying to amass a small army of dark wizards and dementors. Says he wants to be the next Voldemort."

"That's bloody crazy," Rose heard her father reply, "so how many dementors did Scorpius actually have to fend off?"

"ALL of them. All forty of them descended on Franks' property when they felt how scared Rose was during the duel. Scorpius somehow fended off _forty_ dementors at once."

"What?!" Rose heard her parents ask at the same time.

"Yes, I know, he's bloody impressive. That's for sure."

"Harry, the last time I saw something even remotely close to one wizard doing that is when you saved yourself and Sirius from the dementors in the Forbidden Forest," Hermione noted.

"Hmm, well watching the dementors attack Sirius from afar was just unbearable. The love I had for Sirius just made my magic more powerful. I feel it when I go on missions with Al too. My mom's love is what stopped Voldemort from killing me when I was just a baby. When you're protecting someone you _love_ your magic is just much more po..."

 _Silence._ Rose didn't hear anything but breathing for what seemed like five minutes straight. She struggled to wrap her head around what was going on.

"Wha-What are we going to do about this?" Rose finally heard her dad ask, "do we have protocol on this? We have to have some type of protocol on this."

"Uhh, no, there's no written protocol on partners or co-workers falling in love with each other, Ron."

"And why not, _Arry_?!"

"I don't know, _Ron_ , because when _we_ revised the protocol _together_ , _we_ didn't think of it?"

"Merlin, calm down you two, I actually think this is a good thing. Plus, we aren't even sure if they are actually in love."

"Well, after seeing him react to Franks talking about Rosie, it would probably be the most logical..."

"When Rose was four, she promised me she'd be a muggle nun! And after this Logan arsehole debacle we should cash in on this promise before she gets too close to the Malfoy boy," Ron blurted out.

"Oh, Merlin Ron."

"Are you really bringing up the fact that you coerced our four-year old daughter into devoting herself to a religion you don't even believe in?"

"Arry, we have to separate them!"

"Ron, don't be mental. If Rose is helping Scorpius become a more powerful wizard, isn't that a good thing?"

"Yea, Ron, you do realize that 2/3 of the famous 'Golden Trio' is married with two kids?" Hermione quipped.

Rose heard her Uncle's laugh. "She's got you there Ron. It's true. I hear those two made a pretty powerful duo. They saved the world and all that nonsense," Harry added.

Ron sounded defeated, "I can't believe you two are joking about this. But you're technically right, if Scorpius has the ability to conjure such a powerful patronus, we should consider training him to be a Hit Wizard."

"It works out well since we're already considering Al after his undercover work, maybe we can..."

The voices started to fade as Rose fell into a deep sleep again.


	9. Chapter 9

A/N: I've got a longer A/N at the end but I just wanted to say upfront: You guys are the best! Your reviews honestly make my day :D!

* * *

When Rose fully came to, she looked around nervously trying to determine where she was. She looked down and noted she was in a bed with white sheets. She turned to her right and saw enough rose bouquets to fill a small flower shop. Rose looked to the left and finally exhaled. Her mum and dad were sleeping in two adjoining chairs. Hermione's head was leaning on Ron's shoulder while they held hands in their sleep. Rose smiled at the site.

"Dad, Mum," she whispered. There was no movement. "Dadddd!"

Ron jolted up with his wand in hand and ready to attack with a stony expression of his face, of course, waking up his wife with the sudden movement. Rose was gobsmacked. Her jaw dropped as her eyes widened watching her father easily transform from sleeping into his dueling stance. So _this_ is why people feared him, she thought to herself.

"Calm down, Ron, it's your _daughter_!" Hermione stated tiredly.

"Oh Roise, sorry, you can never be too careful," Ron said while lowering his wand and softening his expression. "How are you feeling honey?"

"I'm okay, I'm just feeling light-headed."

"Eat some of this chocolate, dear," Hermione stated while handing her a small slab of milk chocolate, "it will make you feel better."

Rose practically inhaled the piece of chocolate realizing how hungry she was. She smiled, "thanks, Mum."

"Of course, dear. Do you remember what happened?"

Rose closed her eyes trying to recall. "I remember... talking to Franks... but something went wrong." Rose's eyes popped open as she sat upright, "oh Merlin! Scorpius! Is he okay? He was trying to tell me to leave but... is he okay?"

Ron grunted and muttered under his breath, "who cares?" Hermione turned and shot him a dirty look. "I mean, the Malfoy boy is fine," Ron stated while frowning and crossing his arms.

Hermione rolled her eyes at her husband before turning back to Rose. "In fact, Rose, he saved your life using a very strong patronus," Hermione explained.

Rose took a deep calming breath while reclining. "Wow, that's amazing, I'm so happy he's okay!" Rose exclaimed. Hermione gave Rose a knowing smile while Ron grunted again.

Rose coughed and looked away from her parents. "I mean... he is my friend and all, of course I would be happy," Rose commented quietly.

"Naturally," Hermione stated while smiling a little wider.

"Well, we're happy _you_ are okay," Ron stated pointedly.

"How long have I been here?" Rose asked looking again at the flower shop amassed next to her bed.

"A little over a day, the sun's about to come up," Hermione stated. She pointed to the flowers, "you have multiple rose bouquets from your grandparents, aunts, uncles, brother, and cousins except for Lily of course. She brought..."

"Lilies," Rose said smiling looking at the pink lily bouquet that was obviously from her ridiculous cousin.

"Lee also stopped by," Ron chimed in, "he brought you this box."

Rose's eyes opened wide looking at the small cardboard box. "He sent me work while I'm in the hospital?!"

Ron laughed, "no, Rosie, it's a box of travel brochures! He wants you gone for at least two weeks as soon as this case is finished. We think Franks will plead guilty so it shouldn't take too long. Hopefully, you won't have to testify."

"When can I go home?" Rose asked.

"Are you okay with coming home with us? The family wants to see you," Hermione explained.

"Sorry Rosie, it will probably be an all-day affair. Everyone wants visual confirmation that you're doing okay. Apparently owls aren't enough," Ron stated while shrugging his shoulders.

Rose smiled and nodded.

* * *

After many hours of convincing her grandparents, aunts, uncles, and cousins that she was healthy and her soul was still intact, Rose stood in her apartment staring at the flower shop of rose bouquets now in her living room.

Molly rolled her eyes, "I knew flowers were a bad idea. She doesn't even know what to do with them!"

"You can always donate them to a muggle funeral home," Lily advised, "all of them except the lilies obviously."

"Hey!" Lucy protested, "the yellow roses from _me_ should also stay."

"Do we know anyone having a wedding?" Dom asked.

"Vic could renew her vows," Roxy offered.

"We just got married three years ago. I think Teddy would Avada himself if he had to do anymore wedding planing during this _century_ ," Vic countered while laughing.

Rose turned to respond to her cousins but then she heard a pop. She turned back around and saw Scorpius standing by her front door looking at the mass of flowers with eyebrows raised. Rose approached him taking slow, deliberate steps.

"Hey," she said breathlessly while fidgeting with the end of her shirt.

"Hi," he replied looking around the room, "I see you've got a small party going on? Hi, everyone."

Rose's cousins responded with greetings and giggles. Rose looked back at all of her female cousins who were now pretending not to eavesdrop. "Oh, we're supposed to be having a girls' movie night tonight. Something about needing to bond because... I almost got... my soul... sucked out of me," Rose stated while squinting.

Scorpius nodded and replied, "right, right, I guess I should come back..." Scorpius lost his train of thought as his grey eyes met her blue ones. They were bright and vibrant again, he noted. He hated seeing how lifeless they looked when she was just lying there after the attack.

Rose inhaled deeply taking in his scent unable to break away from his gaze even if she wanted to.

"Alright ladies," Lily spoke up, "let's give Ro some space and time to _rest_. Chop chop!"

"Let's go to Hog's Head," Dom offered quickly.

"I thought we were supposed to be having a movie night with Rose," Lucy protested.

"We'll be seeing her _this weekend_ at Louis's birthday party, Lucy," Vic reasoned.

Lucy crossed her arms still unconvinced. "But then all the guys will be there, this is girls' night. What happened to _girl power_?"

"Hey Lucy," Roxy stated, "I bet you haven't seen Sammy in awhile. If Uncle Percy thinks you're _here_ then..."

"Oh, right! I'll see you guys later! Feel better Rosie," Lucy exclaimed before quickly disapparating.

"Sisters before misters, huh, ladies?" Molly stated sarcastically before apparating to Hog's Head.

The rest of Rose's cousins laughed and followed suit disapparating from Rose's apartment.

Rose took a deep breath noting that she'd have to thank (and probably answer prying questions from) her cousins later. She continued looking up at Scorpius. "Thank you for... saving my life," she whispered.

Scorpius smiled weakly and took her hand. "Of course, and you're the one who stunned Franks. If you hadn't done that we might both be soulless."

Rose shook her head ignoring the tingling sensation she was feeling from his contact. She looked at the floor and stated quietly, "you knew something was going on, had I left when you suggested it, we wouldn't have been in danger."

Scorpius placed his free hand under her chin lightly guiding her to look up at him again. "You don't know if that's true, Rose. All that matters is... you are okay... I mean... I'm just... _really_ happy you are okay." He cupped her cheek, leaned in, and gave her a tender, lingering kiss.

Scorpius pulled away and rubbed the back of his neck. "So I also brought you flowers, actually one flower... from my mom's garden. You know how my mom loves gardening, right? I had to beg her to let me pick it but then I told her it was for you and she actually helped me pick it. Though, had I seen the heap of flowers that your family had already gotten for you I would have brought you more flowers but I guess I didn't think about how many to..."

Rose cut off his rambling by putting a hand on his chest and smiling, "can I have my flower, please?"

Scorpius summoned a slim vase holding a single rose and handed it to Rose. The rose was a dark vibrant blue color. As Rose's eyes lit up from observing the rose, the rose's color changed to a slightly lighter shade of blue.

"I charmed it to match the color of your eyes so depending on lighting and your mood, it changes shades," Scorpius explained, "I hope you like it." He shifted his weight as he nervously observed Rose looking at his gift.

"I...I love it," Rose stated while still staring intently at Scorpius's flower. "It's perfect." Rose placed it prominently on a table in her living room.

Scorpius blushed deeply and said, "okay, I should get going now. Your dad didn't seem too thrilled with me when I arrived at the hospital so I left but I... needed to see you."

Rose rubbed her temples trying to recall what felt like a distant memory in the back of her mind involving her parents and Uncle Harry mentioning Scorpius at the hospital. She shook her head deciding to think about it later.

Rose reached out and lightly grabbed Scorpius's arm. "Will you stay with me?" Rose asked in a small voice.

Scorpius's eyes widened and his eyebrows raised, "Rose, I don't think we should be having sex. You've been through such a difficult time."

Rose blushed deeply and looked away, "oh, I was actually thinking we could just hang out, talk, maybe even cuddle but it was just a thought. You don't have..."

Scorpius wrapped his arms around her waist and held her close. His lips lightly pressed against her forehead. "I'd really like that," he whispered.

* * *

A/N: 1. Thank you again to the reviewers, favorite-ers, and followers! Keep 'em coming, if you're so inclined!

2\. To answer one guest review - I unfortunately cannot update everyday :(. I've got a huge exam coming up so a lot of my day has to be dedicated to studying. However, soon, I will have a couple of weeks of freedom before starting work. This fic might be finished by then but I'm open to more fanfic ideas!

3\. Get ready for a monster of a next chapter (long for me that is)! It involves Louis's birthday and a self-revelation from one member of this pairing (guess which one :P!)! Stick with me guys, the fic is wrapping up soon (likely 3 more chapters after this one)!


	10. Chapter 10

A/N: I know this is super long but I just couldn't figure out which conversations to cut out! I just loved writing about the family at the Burrow way too much :). Once again, thanks for the reviews, follows, and favorites! Keep it coming, of course :P! You-all make me smile!

* * *

"Seriously? Seriously? Is he serious?" Louis asked as Al nodded for what seemed like the hundredth time.

Louis turned to Scorpius, "you and Rose, _seriously_?"

Scorpius gave him an exaggerated eye roll, "yes, seriously, we are friends with benefits but I think I _may_ be falling for her. Can you pull your shit together before we walk into the Burrow?"

Louis ignored Scorpius's question turning to Al. "And you, you walked in on them? Seriously?" Louis asked and Al nodded _again_.

Louis stopped in his tracks. Both Al and Scorpius took deep breaths before turning toward him. "How long?" Louis demanded.

Scorpius stared at his shoes trying to find a way to avoid the question. "What day is it?" he asked trying to buy time.

"My birthday. Saturday. You _imbecile_ ," Louis responded hotly.

Scorpius cleared his throat. "Just one... month."

"A month? You've been shagging my cousin for a _fucking_ month?!" Louis darted his gaze between Scorpius and Al. "Why did _neither_ of you tell me?"

"Because you're a training to be a mediwizard and you barely see the light of day," Al responded.

"I also didn't want to get punched in the face," Scorpius added with a shrug. "By the way, Al drank your gift when he found out."

"What the bloody hell, man! I should punch you in your face," Louis yelled at Al.

"Wait. You just found out that this arsehole has been shagging your cousin, no commitment whatsoever, and _I'm_ the one you want to punch in the face? For drinking your bloody whisky?"

"This arse also saved my cousin's life so I can't punch him. Did you buy me a new bottle of whisky?"

Al rolled his eyes and continued up the hill making his way to the Burrow while Scorpius and Louis hurried after him.

Just before reaching the front door, Louis turned to Scorpius again, "you gonna tell her about your feelings?"

Scorpius exhaled, "I don't know, maybe if it feels right but I don't have a plan."

"I'm not exactly a fan of you being this _friendly_ with my cousin with no strings so I vote you do it," Louis stated matter-of-factly.

"Me too!" Al agreed.

"Bloke, you have no room to talk. You and Ali have been 'not dating' for like two years!" Louis retorted.

Al muttered under his breath as Scorpius laughed.

* * *

A minute later, Scorpius followed Al and Louis into the Burrow and was greeted with the intoxicating smells of Molly Weasley's cooking. When he walked in, Scorpius was immediately accosted by a countless number of people he considered to be his extended family. He found himself blushing deeply as there were a lot of thank yous, hugs, and pats on the back for saving Rose from demontors.

Over the past ten years, the Burrow had become Scorpius's home away from home. It was so different from the Astoria Malfoy style of decorating. Scorpius's mum chose to decorate each room of the Malfoy home with leather pieces, woods, and maybe one or two accent colors. The Burrow was cozy with a wide assortment of furnishings and trappings in different colors and styles. Each room always looked like it was bursting at the seams given the countless number of expansion spells Molly had to place to fit the Weasleys, the Potters, and friends of the families.

Scorpius located Louis and Al again in the living room and handed Louis an envelope. "Before I forget mate, this is from me and Al. Happy Birthday!"

Louis grinned at Scorpius and Al, "thanks guys!"

Scorpius and Al were talking to Louis about the demanding hours of his mediwizard training when _she_ walked in with Dom and Lily. Rose had her hair in a messy side french braid that hung over her right shoulder. She was wearing a short ocean blue dress with spaghetti straps. Scorpius couldn't help but notice how much the dress brought out her eyes. He knew he was staring but Scorpius couldn't help himself.

"Hi," Rose said grinning at him and breaking his reverie.

"Hello," he responded. He forced himself to give her a quick, strictly platonic hug that probably looked extremely awkward to anyone watching.

He still stared as she conversed with Dom and Al about choosing a destination for her vacation. As he watched her laughing at a joke that Al made about French cuisine, he smiled. He really couldn't get enough of that laugh... "Ow!"

Something poked him hard. He looked down to see Lily staring at him with one eyebrow raised.

"Oi, Lily, what's up?"

"If you were ten times less obvious, you would _still_ be too obvious," Lily whispered.

Scorpius shook his head. "Right... so I think I'm going to get some fresh air," he muttered.

"Yea, you do that, buddy."

* * *

Scorpius made his way to the backyard where a few members of the party were chatting. He listened half-heartedly as Fred and James discussed new product ideas for Weasleys' Wizard Wheezes. While Fred was explaining the intricate magic behind a joke potion that turned its victim's hair lime green, Scorpius felt a hand on his shoulder.

"Walk with me Scorpius." He turned around to see Ron staring at him.

"Sure, sir - er, Ron."

Scorpius's stomach dropped as Ron led them away from the rest of the party.

"Scorpius. You know how that Logan arsehole hurt my Rosie."

Scorpius's hands reflexively balled up into fists. "Yes, I met him and I know about what he did."

"Watching your daughter get hurt is one of the hardest things a father goes through. I'm sure you can imagine what I wanted to do to him. It took all the self-control I had not to hunt him down and use every Unforgivable on him," Ron said his devoid of emotion.

Scorpius's breath caught in his throat as Ron continued, "Scorpius, I like you. You're respectful, hard-working, brave. You've surprised me over the years, in a good way."

"Wow, thank you, that actually..."

Ron continued as if he didn't say anything, "I want my Rosie to be happy but you need to know something. I have _zero_ self-control left when it comes to seeing my daughter get hurt. Do you understand me?" Ron asked his eyes boring into Scorpius's.

Scorpius gulped before nodding his head and stating, "I do understand. Sir, Rose and I are not..."

"I'm not drunk enough to hear about my daughter's relationship with you. Anyway, congratulations, 'Arry and I have decided that you and Al will start training to be Hit Wizards next month."

Scorpius's eyes widened. His mouth opened and closed a few times but words wouldn't come out. After thirty seconds of silence, Ron shrugged and stated, "you'll be learning some pretty difficult techniques involving more complex defensive charms and counter-curses. The training is grueling but it's designed to help you tap into some pretty powerful magic."

Ron shook Scorpius's hand as Scorpius finally found his voice, "thank you, wow, I won't let you down."

Ron then crossed his arms and muttered, "I like to tell trainees to bring a special memento. Keeping it close will help you keep a strong mind when you're trying to master something difficult like fending off dark arts interrogation tactics."

"A memento, like what?" Scorpius asked slowly.

Ron pulled out a watch from his pocket. "This is a muggle watch that Hermione got me when I proposed," Ron was smiling at the memory. "When I pulled out the engagement ring, of course, she didn't go easy on me. She said that she couldn't be 'bribed' into marrying me and insisted that she give me this watch in return. I keep it with me when I go on missions. It helps just having it in my pocket."

Scorpius sighed as he thought about his last real 'relationship.' It was a witch supermodel that he wasn't even remotely in love with. In fact, they quickly broke up after she demanded he stop seeing so much of... _Rose_.

Scorpius blinked his eyes clearing his head. He responded, "that's brilliant, but I'm not in love with anyone. I don't know if I can find something like that before training starts."

Ron looked at Scorpius with wide eyes and then suddenly started laughing. He patted Scorpius on the back. "You don't _need_ it! No rush to fall in love either, ay?!" Ron turned back to the party and ran off shouting, "ARRY, ARRY! Guess what the Malfoy boy just said!"

Scorpius looked at Ron's retreating back with raised eyebrows. Scorpius knew he had pretty strong feelings for Rose, but love? They hadn't even been on a proper date yet! Maybe Ron was acting strangely because he had assumed they were secretly dating, Scorpius reasoned. He thanked Merlin Ron didn't know the actual terms of their arrangement.

* * *

As Scorpius walked inside his thoughts about his conversation with Ron were soon interrupted as Louis came sprinting toward him grinning and waving the envelope that Scorpius had given him earlier. "Front row center tickets for the Wacky Wasted Wizards concert! How did you even get these?! This is INSANE!"

"Of course, man, Al and I knew you really wanted them," Scorpius responded while grinning.

"This bloke actually made us wait in line instead of just asking his dad," Al added while shaking his head disapprovingly.

Lily approached Al and Scorpius with her hands on her hips while pouting. "Remember when I asked for the _same_ tickets for my birthday?"

Al folded his arms, "yea, and I told Scorpius not to get them for you because your motives are _inappropriate_. I won't have a hand in my sister dating a..."

"DINNER!" Grandma Molly yelled.

A stampede of more than thirty people made their way to the expanded dining table at the heart of the Burrow home. Scorpius positioned himself between Al and Louis and across from James. Scorpius relaxed as he made easy conversation about work, quidditch, and the WWW concert.

As the party began eating Louis's birthday cake, Grandma Molly commented, "Rosie, there's something different about you. What's going on?"

Scorpius tensed up and focused on a sprinkle on his piece of cake. Al nudged him with his elbow. While Scorpius could tell that Ron knew _something_ was happening, he didn't want to confirm Ron's suspicions anymore than necessary or deal with Rose's male relatives that didn't know yet. They might _actually_ punch him in the face.

"What do you mean, Grandma?" Rose asked.

"You seem happier, less tense sweetheart."

"I took a weekend off, a couple of weeks ago. It was very relaxing."

"Oh is that it, honey?"

"Yea, I think so, Grandma."

"When has our little Rosie Posie ever been happy about _not_ doing work?" James joked. "I think Rosie has got a new boy toy!"

"Rose, you're turning a beautiful shade of red. Who's the guy?" asked Hugo squinting at her.

Ron glanced at Scorpius before coughing and commenting, "Rosie, I don't think you should start dating again until you're thirty-five at least, maybe even forty."

"Oh really, _Ronald_? When did you and Hermione start dating?" Ginny teased.

Ron grunted, "it was a different time, _Ginevra_ , I was wise beyond my years." The entire table erupted into laughter.

"'Mione back me up on this," Ron pleaded.

Scorpius looked up to see Hermione's mum shrug and say, "she's an adult, Ronald. Rose should do whatever makes her happy."

"I agree with Aunt Hermione," Lucy quickly chimed in while glaring at her father.

Rose smiled as Ron and Percy rolled their eyes. "Thanks mum, and if everyone must know, I'm not _dating_ anyone."

Al started choking and Rose glared at him.

Harry laughed, "smaller bites, son!"

* * *

After dinner, the parents headed to their respective houses and the rest of the party headed toward the abandoned barn by the Burrow. As Scorpius walked with the group, he was determined not to stare at Rose. As he was studying a particularly interesting piece of grass, he heard a voice near him.

"Ahhh, I get it now."

He looked up and responded, "oh hey Hugo, sorry I didn't notice you there. What do you get?"

Hugo shrugged and nonchalantly stated, "that you're in love with my sister. I've been trying to figure out what's going on with her and now I see it. It's _you_."

Scorpius cleared his throat, "Hugo, I wouldn't say I'm in love with your sis.. I mean not that your sister isn't someone to be in love with... we are just not... I mean we are not dating or anything. I'm sorry, this must be really weird for you. I don't plan..."

Hugo started laughing. "You don't have to worry about me, mate. The last time I tried to defend my sister's honor, I ended up in a broom cupboard for a couple of hours. _She_ put me there, not the guy."

"So you're okay with whatever might be happening between us?"

"Of course not! Are you mental? She's my _sister_. But I do know that I haven't seen her this happy in awhile. So if whatever you two are doing or not doing is making her happy, I can live with it and stay out of broom cupboards." Hugo smiled before turning toward the group, "Louis, did you bring the hack-kee-sock?"

As Hugo walked away, Scorpius allowed himself to look at Rose again. He watched as the sunlight from the setting sun danced with the strands of her hair. His heart beat faster as her lips parted into a huge grin as Lily, Al, and James bickered about Lily's love life. His palms felt sweaty as he noticed the twinkle in her eyes as she laughed. _Shit_ , he thought to himself, _I'm in love with Rose Weasley_.

He looked around to make sure that no one knew the crisis that was going on in his head. He realized that they were at the barn already.

"Guys," Lily pleaded as she looked around the dirty barn, "why are we here?"

Louis looked offended as he held a hand to his heart, "because it's my birthday! You used to love coming to parties here."

"Yea," Fred added, "we would have the best raves here, Lils! What's wrong with you?"

"We are ALL old enough to drink now, why don't we go to a bar or something? Somewhere less dusty," Lily suggested as she cleaned off a wooden box with her wand and sat down.

"The girl makes a couple of death-defying quidditch dives, ends up in the Sports section of the Prophet every week, and suddenly she's too good for the Chateau Barn?" Teddy quipped.

Lily rolled her eyes before joining Hugo in a game of hacky sack.

As the crew then argued about whether to play night quidditch or set off fireworks, Scorpius grabbed a butterbeer from a levitating cooler and walked up the creaky wooden steps of the barn. He settled on the top floor where there was a large square opening in the wall overlooking the miles of fields in Devon, England and the sunset. As he watched blue, purple, red, and yellow blend together in the sky, he thought about whether he should reveal his feelings to Rose.

As he considered her potential reactions, her voice broke through his thoughts.

"Way to ignore me for the _whole_ day," Rose lightly chided.

Scorpius looked up toward her from where he was sitting. His heart skipped a beat as she gave him a seductive smirk. Scorpius rubbed the back of his neck and looked away. "Lily told me I was being obvious so I was trying to be less obvious," he explained.

"Right because not talking to or looking at one of your best friends for a couple of hours is _totally_ normal."

He gave her a weak smile as she sat down next to him. He forced himself to control his breathing as he inhaled her vanilla scent.

He took a deep breath, "listen, Rose, I wanted to talk..."

Rose's eyes widened and she cut him off, "Scor, I know my family, especially the men, can be a lot to handle." She held his hand, "but before you say anything, I want you to know that our _arrangement_ has made me really happy. I know that this can't last for long, especially since Astoria will _insist_ that you get married and have kids soon," Rose forced a laugh as Scorpius looked away from her missing the flash of pain in her eyes. "But I want you to know," she continued, "that this has been everything I've needed to be happy and to just have fun again." Rose exhaled and gave him a shy smile.

As their eyes met again, Scorpius remembered one of her rules when they started this whole friends with benefits thing: _any serious feelings and we end it and go back to just friends._ Scorpius was certain he didn't want to be "just friends." As his fingers absentmindedly made small circles on her leg, he made the decision to suppress his feelings even if that meant he was being a coward.

He forced himself to smile. "Rose, I'm really happy with what we're doing too."

She gave him a genuine smile and rested her head against him. "Good," she whispered.

As Scorpius ignored the feelings of guilt from lying to his best friend and first real love, he thought back to something that Ron said.

"Hey Rose, remember that friendship bracelet you made me when were eleven?"

Rose laughed heartily. "You mean the one that I _tried_ to give you our first week of school but you refused to take it because 'one, Malfoys don't wear cheap jewelry and two, we're _NOT_ friends, Weasley!'" Rose stated mocking a young Scorpius.

Scorpius winced and blushed with embarrassment thinking about what a menace he was when a young, determined Rose was only trying to be nice to him. "Do you still have it?" he asked.

She looked up at him and smiled. "Of course, I do! That hemp bracelet is a masterpiece. I didn't even use magic to make it," she boasted proudly.

Scorpius looked down at her smiling back and wrapped his arms around her waist. He brought her into his lap and gently kissed the top of her head.

"Can I have it?"


	11. Chapter 11

A/N: It's early in the morning and instead of studying for the most important exam of my life, I'm working on this because of course I am :P. Therefore, for the sake of being less distracted, I'm posting this now before I think of something new or see another spelling or grammar mistake (sorry, this one might be full of them!).

Enjoy! And as always, I truly appreciate the reviews, follows, and favorites!

* * *

The two weeks after Louis's birthday party had been very difficult for Rose. The Prosecutor's Office spent countless overtime hours painstakingly reviewing every detail of every case where Eric Franks testified as a witness. Rose also had to testify against Franks who stubbornly refused to plead guilty despite the evidence against him that amounted to the size of a mountain troll. The Wizengamot wanted to hear extensive details about Franks's most recent criminal involvement and also wanted to hear evidence involving his past crimes since being turned by Death Eaters which meant a multi-day trial. Rose had to relive her dementor attack not only as a witness before the Wizengamot but, thanks to Rita Skeeter, also in Daily Prophet gossip articles _everyday_ of trial.

At the end of each day, Rose found refuge in Scorpius's arms. She knew that she had strong feelings for him. She probably never fully got over her teenage crush on him. She also knew it was more than a teenage crush. For Merlin's sake, she was fairly certain that she had stronger feelings for Scorpius than she _ever_ had for Logan. But she refused to actively think about the four-letter word. The last time she said it to a man outside of her family, she had been burned... _bad_. She didn't know how Scorpius felt and she wasn't going to be the one to put herself out there.

* * *

The Franks trial had finally concluded and Franks was swiftly punished with life in Azkaban. Despite the fact that more work needed to be done to ensure that no other cases were compromised by Franks, Lee Jordan immediately pushed Rose out of the Ministry doors and demanded that he not see her for _at least_ two weeks. Scorpius and Al also had some time off before beginning Hit Wizard training in some undisclosed location. In celebration of the trial's conclusion and the promotions, Lily insisted on celebrating at Hog's Head.

"Do you think they'll ever come up for air?" Lily asked titling her head to the side.

Rose sighed as she watched Ali pressed up against the wall by Al, their lips crushed together in a passionate snog. "I think it's charming," Rose commented.

While sharing a round of butterbeers, Al noticed a tall attractive bloke flirting with Ali near the bar. In response, he quickly got up from his seat, swiftly moved through the crowd toward Ali, interrupted the bloke mid-sentence, and planted a passionate kiss on her lips. It took Ali about two seconds to fully comprehend what was happening before wrapping her arms around Al, pressing her body against his, and deepening the kiss. Five minutes later, they had move to a corner of the bar but their lips were still connected.

Lily looked back at Rose. "I give them about ten minutes before they are officially dating. How about you and Scorpius?"

Rose tore her eyes away from the couple and stared back at Lily. "Smooth Lils, very smooth."

"I know I'm smooth," Lily said winking, "but that's not an answer to my question."

Rose sighed glancing at Scorpius talking to Louis at the bar. "I don't want to stop being with him... even if it's _supposed_ to be without feelings."

"Who says it would stop?"

"Lils, he didn't sign up for a relationship and we made rules. Any strong feelings and we would end it."

Lily rolled her eyes. "Rules are meant to be broken, Ro. I told you this whole friends with benefits thing was a bad idea but I see the way you look at each other. There's definitely strong feelings on _both_ sides. Why don't you invite him on your trip?"

Rose wrinkled her nose. "That seems so _couple-y_ and he'll probably feel like he has to say yes. I'd prefer a more tactful approach. A way for him to say 'no' without feeling bad."

"You could just tell him that you've finally decided where you're going for vacation." Lily shrugged then continued, "maybe he'll ask to join you for a couple of days?"

Rose drummed her fingers on the table while considering Lily's plan. If Scorpius wanted to spend their time off vacationing together, that would be a good sign. Maybe it would give her the courage to _actually_ talk to Scorpius about her feelings.

She looked up to see Scorpius and Louis chatting with two pretty blondes at the bar. Rose frowned at the site. What if Scorpius didn't want to come with her? What if he wanted to start dating other people? Her stomach tightened as she watched one of the woman give Scorpius a parting hug. She took a deep breath reminding herself that she technically had no say in who Scorpius decided to flirt with.

* * *

The two weeks after Louis's birthday party had been very difficult for Scorpius. In conjunction with the Prosecutor's Office, the Auror Department had to review all the investigations and arrests that Eric Franks was involved in. Scorpius was also closing and transferring his current cases in preparation for Hit Wizard training. Despite his difficult workload, nothing was harder than watching Rose relive the dementor attack.

His heart dropped as he watched her give an account of what she saw and how she felt during the attack. His hands reflexively balled into fists as he watched Franks shrug nonchalantly and affirm everything she testified to. He unfortunately couldn't do anything to Franks so instead Scorpius made it his mission to dull Rose's pain as much as he could. It was more than just shagging now. Each night they spent together, he tried to make her laugh and he held her tight in his arms.

The more time he spent with Rose, the more certain he was that he was in love with her. However, he continued to suppress those feelings. The idea of being "just friends" made his stomach clench up in knots.

* * *

"Good seeing you too, Amelia," Scorpius said to the pretty blonde while smiling and giving her a quick hug. He turned back to see Louis who was glancing at Al and Ali.

"Still going at it?" Scorpius asked.

"Yup, still going at it. It's actually impressive," Louis commented.

"I guess after years of pretending not to be in love, breathing just isn't important right now," Scorpius noted.

Louis laughed then commented, "speaking of pretending, how's my cousin?"

"She's doing great given the Franks situation and no, our arrangement hasn't changed."

Louis grunted before replying, "look Scorp, you're like my brother. This brotherly status means I can get over you _dating_ my cousin but that definitely doesn't mean I'm okay with you treating her like one of your slags for this long."

Scorpius narrowed his eyes, "you know she's not just a slag to me, mate!"

"Prove it," Louis responded before grabbing a butterbeer from the bar and storming off towards Rose and Lily. Scorpius sighed before grabbing his butterbeer and following close behind.

* * *

"I guess I'll think about it," Rose concluded.

"Well, he's this way now," Lily whispered.

"Hello again, my wonderful, _innocent_ cousins," Louis greeted them before positioning himself in the seat next to Rose. Lily's eyebrows rose in response while Scorpius rolled his eyes before sitting on the other side of the table next to Lily.

"Louis," Lily stated, "why don't we dance? They are playing a song you like."

"Nope," Louis said glaring at Scorpius, "I don't really feel like dancing."

"Is there something on your mind, Louis?" Rose challenged.

Louis smiled at her. "Just making sure my cousins are safe and protected from all dangers."

"Lou," Lily tried again, "let's go get some more drinks."

"My drink's pretty full Lils, see? I just got one," Louis responded while holding up his butterbeer.

"I think I can take care of all the 'dangers' in the bar, Lou," Rose responded to Louis's earlier comment, "but thanks for your concern."

"I don't know Rosie, you can never be too careful," he replied before turning to glare at Scorpius again. "So Scorp, what are your plans tonight? You, me, and Al should go camping or something," Louis continued while smirking at Scorpius.

"I have a feeling that Al's going to be busy tonight, Lou," Scorpius said while motioning to Al who was now holding hands with Ali while they spoke with their foreheads pressed together.

"Ahh, yes, that makes sense. Looks like those two are dating now, huh?" Louis retorted.

Lily grabbed Louis's butterbeer and spilled the contents on the table before cleaning the mess up with her wand. "Oops. Looks like I spilled your butterbeer, Louis." She stood up, walked over to him, and grabbed his arm. "Come _on_ Lou, I'll buy you the next two."

Louis gave Scorpius another glare before being pulled away by Lily.

Scorpius looked at Rose. "So... Louis knows about our arrangement."

Rose laughed and nodded. "Yup, I figured. I'm sure most of my family knows something's going on at this point." She rubbed her eyes and continued, "he's probably mad at me for not telling him sooner. I usually tell Al, Lils, and Lou everything. It's just that Lou can be so judgmental sometimes."

Scorpius stared at her before stating slowly, "it also looks like Louis isn't too happy with our current arrangement."

"Good thing it's not up to him, huh?" Rose replied while smirking trying to put Scorpius at ease.

"Right, right," Scorpius responded while looking down trying to decipher her exact meaning. He looked over at Louis who was still sending glares his way. Scorpius sighed heavily and looked at Rose again. "Let's get out of here," he suggested.

"You read my mind," Rose stated while also glancing at Louis.

As they were walking toward the door, Louis suddenly stalked in front of them with his arms folded.

"Lou...," Scorpius started.

"Rose, can I talk to you... privately?" Louis cut in ignoring Scorpius.

Rose exhaled deeply while suppressing the urge to roll her eyes, "Sure, Lou." She gave Scorpius a pointed look hoping he would wait for her.

Louis led her through the crowd to the back alley of the bar. Rose deeply inhaled the crisp night air while preparing herself for another infamous Weasley-Potter male overprotective speech.

Louis turned around to face her with arms folded. "Rose, what are you doing?" he demanded.

Rose stared at him blankly. "Excuse me?" she replied defensively, "I'm having an adult relationship with another adult which by the way is none of your business."

"Oh, so I'm not allowed to be worried about my cousin when she's doing something idiotic?"

"What the hell is that supposed to mean?" She was now staring up at her cousin her eyes flashing with anger.

"Rose," Louis sighed impatiently, "you know how he treats his slags. He's fine enough when he's in a relationship but when he's not, it's open season!"

Rose's heart stung as she thought about seeing Scorpius with the blonde woman ten minutes ago. She looked away from Louis concentrating on stopping the tears that were threatening to spill from her eyes. "Look, if you're talking about the blonde woman he was just talking to, he can flirt with whoever he wants. I knew what I was getting myself into. I don't even think we're exclusive."

Louis's eyebrows rose. "Who are you talking about? Amelia? She was in our year, Rose."

Rose stared back at him trying to comprehend why that mattered.

Louis rolled his eyes. "Amelia Mathers? She's a lesbian. We were just meeting her partner."

"Oh... well..."

"This is _exactly_ what I'm talking about!" Louis yelled, "he's not even doing anything and you're already getting hurt! And what do you mean you don't know if you are exclusive? This is worse than Logan! Why are you setting yourself up to be hurt again?!"

Rose felt her face heating up as her eyes narrowed into slits. Her eyebrows pulled together as her breathing became heavy. "Don't you _dare_ compare Scorpius to Logan ever again. I'm not an idiot. I know exactly what I got myself into here," she whispered icily. "Scorpius and I are just having fun and he can do whatever he wants," she continued with her voice slightly cracking.

Louis's eyes bugged out as he stared at her. "Do you know who you are bloody talking to? In 5th year when Scorpius broke up with one of his slags, _I'm_ the one you told about how happy you were while drunk at some House Cup Party. In 6th year when he started dating some other slag, you cried on _my_ shoulder for hours in the Room of Requirement. In 7th year, when you first started liking Logan, you came to _me_ about whether you were finally able to move on. So stop talking to me like I'm as bloody _oblivious_ as Scorpius! Or like I'd be willing to let you _lie_ to yourself like Al and Lily. Even if it isn't his fault, I'm so sick and tired of you being hurt by him!"

"Louis!" she yelled, "what do you want me to say?!"

Louis suddenly shifted uncomfortably as he watched something coming into view behind Rose. "Rose...", he warned.

"NO! Let me finish, you got to say your bloody sickening speech, let me say mine. Do you want me to say I'm pathetic? Sure, I'm _pathetic_ for falling for a guy that hasn't reciprocated the feelings I have had for him since I was 14. I'm even more _pathetic_ because he's my best friend and I still haven't told him how I feel!"

" _Rose_..." Louis pleaded.

"Let me finish!" she screeched. "Do you want me to tell you that I'm actually happy Logan cheated on me instead of proposing because then I wouldn't have found out that I didn't actually love him at all? You want me to say that I've fallen for someone I'm not even supposed to have feelings for?"

"Rose! Please!" Louis tried again looking more uncomfortable by the second.

"Fine! Sure! I've fallen for him! He's the first thing... maybe even the _second_ and _third_ thing I think about when I wake up in the morning! He's the last thing I think about before falling asleep! It doesn't even make _sense_ but my freakin' day gets brighter when I see him! Like, honestly, I think the sun actually shines more when I see him... which is not scientifically possible. For Merlin's sake, I forget how to _breath_ when he touches me... which doesn't even make sense because you _don't_ have to actively think about breathing, your body's autonomic nervous system is supposed to handle it for..."

"ROSE!" Louis shouted while waving frantically for her to stop.

"FINE!" Rose shouted back, "I'm in love with Scorpius Malfoy! I love him, okay?!"

Louis dropped his head in his hands. "Oh _shit_ ," he muttered while shaking his head refusing to look up at Rose.

Rose was out of breath as she looked at him with her eyebrows furrowed. "What's wrong with you _now_?!"

Rose heard someone else taking short, labored breaths behind her. Rose closed her eyes and slowly turned around. _No_ , she thought to herself, _even my life cannot be_ this _bloody unfortunate._ When she opened her eyes again, her cheeks felt hot as she repressed the urge to vomit.

His grey eyes were open wide and his eyebrows were nearly the level of his hairline. If Rose didn't feel so incredibly mortified, she would have laughed at the perfect O his mouth made. Her stomach dropped as his facial expression didn't seem to change. At first she was frozen as they stared at each other like two deers in headlights, nobody moving, nobody speaking, just breathing hard. Maybe they stood like that for five seconds, maybe it had been a whole minute. Rose didn't know and she really didn't care as her flight instincts finally kicked into full gear.

As she started to move, Scorpius finally broke from the shock of her revelation. He moved to reach for her. "Rose! Wait..."

"Uhh... packing! vacation!" were the only words Rose was able to shout before disapparating on the spot and finally letting the tears stream down her face.


	12. Chapter 12

_Rose smoothed out the purple spaghetti strap romper that she borrowed from Lily. She ran a hand through the ends of her hair hoping that Dom didn't make her look absolutely ridiculous with the "beach curls" that she claimed were "oh so necessary for attracting men." She adjusted the gold necklace with a small bow pendant that she borrowed from Ali. Rose looked down at her shoes and smiled. The nude wedges she wore were the only article of clothing currently on her body that actually belonged to her._

 _"Hey there, Ro-say!"_

 _Rose looked up from her shoes and smiled while blushing lightly. "Hi Scor, how's it going?"_

 _"Good! I'm pumped for lunch today!" he told her while giving her a one-armed hug._

 _Rose smiled while saying, "me too, Scor, me too."_

 _As they made their way to Hogsmeade, Scorpius draped an arm around her shoulder and looked her up and down. "Rosie, you look great! Do you have a date later? Who's the bloke?"_

 _Rose giggled and played with her hair. "Maybe," she quipped._

 _"Hey! I don't think it's fair to be so tight-lipped about your love life when you're about to meet my girlfriend in five minutes."_

 _Rose swallowed hard as her stomach dropped. "Girlfriend?" she asked in a small voice._

 _"Hmm, I guess you're right. It's a little early to be calling her my girlfriend."_

 _"So that's the surprise," Rose stated quietly and slowly while staring at a patch of grass to try to mask her disappointment._

 _"Yup!" Scorpius replied excitedly. "I'm letting you meet her before Lou and Al so you should feel pretty special. I really want to know your opinion. She's a year older than us, a 7th year Hufflepuff…"_

 _Rose blinked her eyes and took deep breaths. Inhale. Exhale. I'm such an idiot, she thought to herself. How did I think this was a date? I can't believe I let Dom pull on my hair for a freakin' hour to meet his girlfriend. Inhale. Exhale._

 _"Rose?" Scorpius called breaking her from her thoughts. "This is Jessica."_

 _Rose plastered a fake smile on her face. "It's so nice to meet you."_

 _"Rose? Wake up," the girl responded while shaking her lightly._ "Rosie, wake up, honey."

Rose opened her eyes to see striking light blue eyes staring at her. She blinked. "How long was I out?" she asked.

"Only an hour," Dominique replied.

"Thanks for letting me nap here, Dom, you're the best," Rose stated tiredly.

"No problem Rosie, but you know they are going to check here again soon."

Rose groaned. "Yea, I know. I just couldn't sit at the coffee shop for much longer. Were you able to get my bags?"

"Yea, I was, Scorpius was in your living room but he was sleeping on your couch."

Rose sat up in the bed and gave Dom a hug. "Thank you so much!"

Dominique sighed. "Listen Rosie, are you sure you want to leave things like this? What did Lou say to you? I can help you beat him up if you'd like. I know my little brother can be such a wanker sometimes."

Rose smiled. "I promise, it's not his fault."

Dom furrowed her brows. "When he came looking for you two hours ago, he told me he yelled at you in an alley."

Rose laughed humorlessly. "Lou has yelled at me before, Dom. It wasn't that."

"Alright, so then why are Lou, Al, and Scorpius looking for you? And why are you hiding out in my flat?"

Rose took a deep breath. "Three hours ago, I may have confessed my undying… and maybe stalkerish-sounding?… love for Scorpius in an alley while Scorpius was standing behind me."

"Oh," Dom responded while frowning.

Rose closed her eyes tightly and rubbed her temples. "Yea, I didn't know he was behind me," she whined.

"Well, it's 3 am and your couch isn't _that_ comfortable but he's waiting up for you in your apartment," Dom reasoned, "isn't that a good thing?"

"Ugh, I'd rather postpone the famous Scorpius Malfoy I-know-you-love-me-but-maybe-we-can-be-friends speech," Rose stated while rolling her eyes.

Dom laughed remembering their years at Hogwarts. "He was quite good at those," Dom stated matter-of-factly.

"You would like those speeches," Rose chided.

" _Admiration_ does not mean like." Dom shrugged. "As someone who has broken up with a lot of men, I have to say I admire when one guy is able to do it so many times without the entire female population hating him."

Rose grumbled and crossed her arms. "Seriously, Dom? ' _So many times_ '? You're not helping."

"Sorry, but listen, you should talk to Scorpius. And if he doesn't feel the same way, it's fine! Rose, you're a freakin' catch. If Scorpius doesn't realize it, someone else who isn't so blind will. In fact, I have a friend who would be great for you he's rich and…"

"Thanks, Dom, but I think I'll just go away for a little bit and maybe stay away from the opposite sex for awhile," Rose stated while getting up and grabbing her bags.

Dom rolled her eyes while walking over to Rose and giving her a hug. "Will you at least tell me where you are going? I thought you weren't supposed to leave until tomorrow."

"I'm going to check-in early. And nope, I will not tell you."

"Why not?" Dom asked crossing her arms.

"Because you will tell Vic who will tell Teddy who will tell James who will tell Al who tell Louis and Scorpius."

Dom pouted. "You're technically right but they'll just owl you letters anyway and I bet someone in this family knows."

"Somehow, rejection through a letter seems so much better than the in your face Scorpius special. And if he doesn't know where I am I can't feel shitty when he doesn't follow me to Co... I mean to wherever I'm going," Rose responded.

Dom sighed. "Well, when the boys come back and harass me, I can honestly say I tried to talk some sense into you."

"Thanks again, Dom. I owe you!" Rose stated before apparating to her Portkey.

* * *

 _Scorpius walked slightly stumbling to the makeshift bar in the Slytherin Common Room. He grabbed a butterbeer and turned toward a crowd of people dancing in the middle of the room. As he scanned the dance floor, one girl in particular caught his eye. She was turned away from him but she looked amazing from behind. She had straight, long light red / strawberry blonde hair. Her arse and toned legs looked amazing in her little black dress as she swayed to the rhythm of the beat. He wondered how he didn't already know this girl. She looked like she was in 7th year like him._

 _He grabbed another butterbeer and approached her._

 _"Hey there, nice moves," he greeted her._

 _She turned around and Scorpius's jaw dropped. "Rose?!"_

 _"Hey Scor!" Rose exclaimed loudly while wrapping her arms around him. She smiled at him and pointed to one of the butterbeers. "Is this for me?" she asked._

 _"Uh yeah," he responded while handing it to her. He played with a strand of her hair between his fingers. "What's going on with your hair? I barely recognized you."_

 _Rose combed through her hair with her fingers. "Oh, Lily begged to straighten it so I finally let her. What do you think?"_

 _Scorpius looked at the strand of hair he was still holding thoughtfully. "You look good but I think I prefer your curls."_

 _Rose laughed. "I'll make sure Lily knows that her efforts were all for naught."_

 _Scorpius stared into his best friend's bright blue eyes. He knew she was good-looking but he'd never considered just how attractive she was. He shook his head and let go of her hair._

 _"Do you want to go to the first Hogsmeade weekend with me?" Scorpius suddenly blurted out._

 _Rose frowned. "Scor, didn't you just break-up with Jessica? You already want to introduce me to another girlfriend?"_

 _Scorpius laughed. "No, that's not exactly…"_

 _Rose rolled her eyes. "This one's not even your girlfriend yet? Introduce me when you guys are serious. Besides, I'm going with Logan," Rose replied and then took a swig of butterbeer._

 _Scorpius looked at her and tilted his head. "Logan? Logan Andrews?" Why did Scorpius suddenly hate Logan Andrews so much?_

 _"Yea, I'm actually really excited. Nothing serious yet but I think he may have potential."_

 _"Oh?" Potential with Logan Andrews? Scorpius really hated the bloke now._

 _"Yea, I mean, I like him, and he likes me." Rose stared off into space. "It's nice to have your feelings reciprocated sometimes," she stated quietly._

 _Scorpius nodded trying to follow her train of thought but he had no idea what she was referring to. Maybe she's just tipsy, he reasoned._

Scorpius felt his face smacked by something soft and cool. He rubbed his eyes and sat up. He glared at Al as his friend came into focus.

"Did you have to wake me up with a pillow to the face?"

Al rolled his eyes. "I just got back from Dom's place, mate," Louis stated suddenly coming into Scorpius's view.

"Is she there?" Scorpius asked sitting up straighter.

Louis sighed. "No, she _was_ there."

"Wasn't Dom supposed to tell you if Rose showed up?" Al asked.

"Yea, but Rose didn't want to be found apparently. And Dom said it was my fault for you know..." Louis trailed off.

"Yelling at Rose in an alley behind a bar about her _private_ feelings for one of her best friends?" Al offered.

"Thanks, mate. I'd forgotten about that," Louis retorted.

"No problem, I'm always here if…" Al responded.

"Did Dom say where she went?" Scorpius cut in impatiently.

"She went on her vacation. She wouldn't tell Dom where she was going," Louis answered.

Scorpius groaned and leaned back into the couch.

"A day early?" Al asked.

"Where would you go on vacation if you were Rose?" Louis asked.

"I have no idea, I'm not Rose," Al responded.

"Well, she can speak Spanish maybe she wanted to use those skills," Louis offered.

"Awesome, so you've narrowed it down to all the Spanish speaking countries in the world," Al stated while rolling his eyes.

"At least I'm trying to be useful," Louis shot back.

"Useful? This is _your_ fault..." Al pointed out.

Scorpius tuned his friends out as Rose's words played in his head. _I'm pathetic for falling for a guy that hasn't reciprocated the feelings I have had for him since I was 14._ 14? Had he really missed it all of these years? He thought back to his dream about their 7th year at Hogwarts. _It's nice to have your feelings reciprocated sometimes._

Scorpius looked up at his friends. "How long?" he asked.

They stopped talking and stared back at him blankly. "How long for what exactly?" Al asked.

"How long did you two know she had feelings for me?"

Al looked away from Scorpius. "She never told me flat out but I kinda guessed the summer before our fifth year."

"What? How?" Scorpius inquired.

"Well, she started blushing around you and staring at you all the time. She would also leave the room when you would start talking about girls," Al explained.

Louis took a deep breath. "The first time I knew for sure is when she told me during 5th year."

"How come neither of you told me?" Scorpius asked genuinely curious.

Al shrugged. "I thought it was one of those short-lived crushes. Like when Lil decides to have a crush on one of James's friends. And if she didn't actually have feelings for you, I didn't want to make you both uncomfortable by pointing out feelings that weren't there."

"She asked me not to tell you. She was certain that you didn't feel the same way 5th and 6th year. Then 7th year, she started liking Logan and I thought she was over you," Louis added.

"How did I miss it for so long?" Scorpius wondered to himself.

"Don't beat yourself up about it, mate," Louis insisted.

"That's rich coming from you," Al deadpanned.

"Okay, one, I already apologized. Two, neither of you were there for my part of the 'conversation' but if you listened to my recap carefully, I'm only against non-exclusive, no relationship Scorpius and Rose."

"We are exclusive," Scorpius stated absentmindedly.

"That's not what she said," Louis muttered.

"Wait, what?!" Scorpius exclaimed panicked.

"In what universe are fuck buddies automatically exclusive?" Louis retorted. "It just didn't seem like she knew what you guys are... or 'were' I guess now that she's leaving the country without..."

"Bloke, you are honestly the least helpful person ever! You've just been on a roll!" Al declared while glaring at Louis. He turned to Scorpius as his face softened. "Scorp, you guys _are_ obviously _exclusive_. Let's just figure out the best way to contact her so you two can talk."

"Well, I plan to write Rose an apology letter or two. If we keep pestering her maybe she'll tell us where she is," Louis offered.

Al slapped Louis on the back. "Finally, a good suggestion from you! We can just ask her where she is."

"What if she doesn't answer?" Scorpius mumbled.

"Then… we'll figure something else out. I mean, she has to come back and go to work eventually," Al reasoned.

Scorpius's stomach clenched thinking about having to wait to talk to Rose. He tapped his foot nervously. "We should have asked Lily before we left the bar." Scorpius glanced at his watch. "Are the Harpies on lockdown for the Cup practices already?"

"Yea, Aunt Gin's not letting you anywhere near that hotel or stadium," Louis answered.

Al wrinkled his nose. "My sister's not easy to reason with anyway."

"Speaking of, I've gotta get some sleep before work. Aunt Gin will Avada me if I fall asleep during team check-ups today. If Rose answers me, I'll let you know."

Scorpius nodded and then looked up at Al. "Mate, go hang out with Ali. I'll just write Rose a letter and then sleep myself."

"Fine," Al stated trying to hide his excitement about Ali. "But, I'm sure she'll come back after getting our owls."

Scorpius bid his friends farewell before sitting back on the couch again. He summoned a piece of parchment and quill. He thought about everything he wanted and needed to say to Rose. How she made him feel when she walked into a room, how sorry he was for being so oblivious for so long, and how much he loved her. Ultimately, he settled for something simple hoping it would reach her before she left:

 _Dear Rose,_

 _I love you too._

 _-Scorpius_

* * *

Rose looked up at the clock in the Portkey station as she wrung her hands. She read over a brochure about beaches on the Caribbean Coast trying to get herself excited for the trip. She collected her belongings ready to make her way to line-up for her destination at Gate 3. As she started to stand up, she felt something nuzzling her hand. She looked down to see her Spotted owl with a letter in her beak.

"Hey Owlivia, what are you doing here?" Rose muttered as she stroked her owl and removed the letter from its beak. Rose's breath caught in her throat as she recognized Scorpius's scrawl. She bite her lip as she stared at her name on the envelope.

"Come on Rose, just open the letter," she quietly urged herself. She turned over the envelope as her finger lightly grazed over the grooves of the seal with "SM" stamped into it. She held her breath as she started to peel the seal. She then jumped as she heard a witch announce, "Gate 3 Portkey, leaving now, folks!" Rose quickly tucked the letter in her back pocket and made her way to Gate 3.

* * *

A/N:

1) 100 followers? You guys are **AMAZING**! Thank you! Continue to make me wonderfully happy by continuing to review, favorite, and follow? :D Tell me what you thought about the flashbacks or about Rose's decision or about anything else!

2) Can anyone guess where Rose is going?! I think I left enough clues throughout this chapter for proper guesses.

3) I take my huge exam on Wednesday and Thursday! So expect the next chapter next weekend. It's probably going to be the last one which makes me ridiculously happy and sad at the same time. But I've changed the original plot around before so who knows! Plot suggestions are welcome (seriously, they are!)!


	13. Chapter 13

A/N: This is not the last chapter. I got a little carried away in terms of length so I split it into 2 parts. Still writing and editing the second part but I hope you enjoy this first part :). And, as always, I'm so so so delighted by the number of reviews, favorites, and follows! Thank you all!

* * *

Scorpius rubbed his eyes and yawned.

"Have you been getting any sleep, dear?"

"She means you look like shit. What's wrong with you?"

"Thanks, dad," Scorpius mumbled.

Astoria took a sip of her tea while staring at her son. "This is about Rose, isn't it?"

Scorpius inwardly cringed as he looked up at his father. Draco looked bored as he continued to chew on his scone.

Scorpius's gaze darted to his mother. "You told him?"

"No, give me some credit. Rose is, by far, the longest relationship you've ever had with a girl outside of the family. This is hardly news," Draco drawled.

Scorpius raised an eyebrow. "So," he countered, "we've been friends. People can be friends."

Draco rolled his eyes. "She's also been pining after you for years," he stated with a wave.

Scorpius rubbed his eyes again and groaned. "My father is less oblivious about my love life than I am."

"What happened?" Astoria asked with wide eyes.

Scorpius yawned again. "It's nothing mum, don't worry," he mumbled.

"Did you two break up?" Astoria pressed on.

Scorpius sighed and picked at his eggs. "We were never dating."

Draco folded his arms while Astoria drummed her fingers on the kitchen table.

"You can't finally come over for brunch, nearly fall asleep in your food, and not tell us what's going on," Astoria stated annoyed.

Scorpius exhaled. "She said she was in love with me but…"

Astoria cut her son off with a high, sharp squeal of excitement.

Draco reached for his wife's hand. "Honey, I think there's more to the story," he said while patting her hand.

"Right, right," Astoria said while leaning forward with interest. "Please continue," she urged.

"I wasn't supposed to hear," Scorpius stated while shrugging. "So she said it and then she ran away."

"What happened when you caught up to her?" Astoria asked excitedly.

Scorpius's stabbed a piece of bacon with his fork. "I didn't catch up to her. She left for her vacation and I don't know where she is so I wrote her a letter."

Astoria's face fell instantly. "You wrote her a letter?" she asked incredulously. "A letter?"

Scorpius groaned. "Yea, it's been three days and she hasn't written back," he stated.

"A letter?"

"Mum, are you feeling okay?" Scorpius asked giving her a concerned look. "That's exactly what I said."

Astoria started shaking her head. She looked at her husband. "We are never going to have grandchildren," she declared while frowning.

Scorpius looked at his father for help. Draco started chuckling. He kissed his wife on the cheek. "Let me talk to him."

Astoria left the room still pouting and muttering under her breath about letters and grandchildren.

"What's up with mum?"

Draco smiled and summoned two glasses. "Scotch?"

"Um, sure. Are you going to tell me not to date Rose? Because I really…"

"Ha, no," Draco said interrupting his son. "Despite being Weasel's daughter, I think she's really good for you."

"Yea, me too. She's so intelligent, she's caring, and she's loyal and also so beautiful."

Draco smirked at his son. "So you wrote her a letter," Draco said while pouring the glasses of scotch.

"Yup," Scorpius answered while grabbing a glass.

"And she hasn't responded?" Draco asked while taking a sip of scotch and eyeing his son.

"Nope," Scorpius replied wondering why they were rehashing these facts.

"So what's the plan now that she hasn't answered you?"

"You think I should write another letter?" Scorpius asked as he furrowed his eyebrows.

Draco suppressed the urge to roll his eyes. "Good, so now that we've got that terrible idea out of the way, let's think of the obvious good idea."

Scorpius scoffed. "Dad, how am I supposed to see her if I don't know where she is."

Draco smiled while finishing his scotch. "The Hat placed you in Slytherin, right? Because you are cunning and resourceful?"

Scorpius snorted. "Yup."

"And you love her?"

Scorpius looked down at his glass of scotch while slightly blushing. "I do."

"Then, figure it out," Draco stated before getting up and walking out of the kitchen.

* * *

Lily trotted off the pitch after another grueling quidditch practice. In a week, the Harpies were playing in the League Cup against Puddlemere United. Coach Ginny ran a difficult practice focusing on broom maneuvers and speed. As Lily headed toward the tunnels to the locker room, she saw three familiar figures sitting on the sideline. She smiled as she changed course toward the figures. "About time," she muttered to herself.

She reached them and asked, "To what do I owe the pleasure, boys?"

"This pathetic bloke needed me to get him into the stadium," Louis stated while rolling his eyes. "And I kinda sorta owe him one."

"That's the understatement of the year," Lily responded cheekily.

"And I'm here because he mistakingly thinks that you listen to your brother," Al added.

Lily scoffed, "Yea Scorp, that's a joke."

Scorpius folded his arms, "So, are you going to tell me?"

Lily looked upward and stroked her chin delicately and mockingly, "What exactly are you talking about?"

Louis and Albus snickered as Scorpius narrowed his eyes at her, "What do you want, Lily?"

"You know what I want, Scorpius," Lily responded.

"Nope," Al chimed in.

"No way, don't do it Scorp," Louis added.

Scorpius nodded his understanding to Al and Louis before turning back to Lily. He gave her a bored look and replied, "Pick something else."

"I guess you don't want my information," Lily shrugged slowly turning to walk away while trying not to giggle.

"Fine! I'll do it, tell me," Scorpius called after her quickly.

Lily smiled as Louis groaned.

"How bloody whipped are you, man?!" Al chastised. "It's only been three days!"

"Sorry mate, I need to see her. I can't wait a week and a half! What if she stays for longer? We'll be away training and then I'd have to wait for five weeks!" Scorpius exclaimed while fidgeting with the ends of a hemp friendship bracelet currently in his pocket.

"If you told her before she left like I suggested, you wouldn't be in this bloody mess," Louis declared smugly.

"She also wouldn't have run away if you hadn't cornered her in a back alley of a bar and yelled at her," Al responded while crossing his arms.

"Technically, I'm supposed to tell no one," Lily grinned looking at Scorpius while ignoring her brother and cousin.

Scorpius groaned. "I knew she wouldn't want you telling me! Why did you get my hopes up then?"

"Scorp, give me some credit. Technically, I'm not telling you anything." Lily summoned a ticket with her wand and handed it to Scorpius. "The Portkey location and departure times are listed on the ticket."

Scorpius looked at the ticket disbelievingly and shook his head as a smile appeared across his face. "You bought the ticket already so you were going to give it to me anyway," he concluded.

"Yup, but I also had a feeling you'd do anything to see her so I thought I'd try to get something out of it." Lily winked and skipped away toward the locker rooms. "Happy traveling! Don't muck this up!" she shouted back at him.


	14. Chapter 14

Rose smiled as she sipped a fruity alcoholic drink. She dug her toes in the white sand and reveled in the sensation. She watched the lapping waves in the bluest waters she had ever seen. She put her book to the side, reclined on her beach towel, and closed her eyes. She smiled to herself.

This was the first time in months that she actually let herself relax. Rose couldn't remember when it happened exactly but she was finally completely over Logan. While she knew she totally messed things up with Scorpius, she could not deny how happy she was to be letting go of the pain and heartache she'd been harboring for months. She knew she would have to talk to Scorpius eventually. She would have to fix their relationship or friendship (whatever it is now) somehow. It was the third day of her vacation and his unopened letter sat in a desk drawer in her hotel room. For now, however, she would let herself be content. She took another sip of her fruity concoction and breathed deeply.

As she continued to play with her feet in the sand, she heard a voice. "You made me travel _all_ the way to Costa Rica to track you down," she heard a deep voice tease.

Rose's eyes shot open as she felt her face warming. She looked up to see Scorpius standing over her. His white t-shirt was off and draped over one of his broad shoulders revealing his god-like muscular abs and arms. He was dressed in khaki shorts with no shoes. And of course, he wore that stupid sexy smirk on his face while unabashedly appraising Rose's body in her red skimpy bikini.

Rose swallowed hard and laughed nervously as she asked the first question that came to mind. "How did you find me?"

"I'm a really good auror. Of course I found you," he answered smugly.

Rose shot him a disbelievingly look. Scorpius shrugged in response. "I agreed to get Lily a date with the lead singer of Wacky Wasted Wizards. One of my dad's companies manages them so I know him." He rolled his eyes. "Lily has been asking me for an introduction since her birthday."

Rose gave him a shy smile. "I thought you didn't like using your name to get favors."

"Desperate times call for desperate measures," he answered as his eyes bore into Rose's blue ones. Her stomach dropped as she tried to find something other than his grey eyes to focus on. "You see," he continued, "this incredible and beautiful woman that I was having such a wonderful time with ran away from me a couple of days ago without telling me where she was headed and when she was coming back. She also won't respond to my letter."

Rose felt her face warming even more. She took a deep breath and stared at a freckle on one of her legs. I guess now is the time to repair our friendship, she thought to herself. "Look Scorpius, I'm really sorry. I basically ruined our friendship because I couldn't follow the rules and now…"

"Rose, _fuck_ the rules."

She finally looked up at him surprised at his harsh tone. As her eyes met his stormy grey eyes, she felt her stomach fill with hundreds of butterflies. He smiled at her, kneeled beside her, and held her hand. "Rose, I love you too," he stated slowly and with a grin on his face.

Rose's jaw dropped as she took a moment to understand the words that she just heard. After a second or two, she tackled Scorpius in the sand and crushed her lips against his. It had only been three days but she desperately missed having his strong arms wrapped around her waist. After awhile, she broke the kiss to ask, "Seriously?"

"Seriously," he responded. He tucked a stray piece of her hair behind her ear and looked into her eyes. "I've been such an oblivious idiot for so long. I've dated a lot of girls but nothing even remotely compares to how you make me feel. You're the thing I'm _always_ thinking about. In the morning, in the afternoon, at night, and I dream about you too. I'm just sorry it took me so long to realize how perfect you are for me. I'm sorry I wasn't brave enough to tell you how much I've fallen for you when I finally realized it. I've fallen for you hard, Rose Weasley. I love you."

She smiled and leaned forward to kiss him again. He held her arms gently stopping her. "But can we take this show to your hotel room? Shagging on the beach is really not comfortable at all contrary to popular belief. The sand gets everywhere and my skin is sensitive so I burn all over…"

"Please. Stop. My heart can't handle how romantic you are being," Rose responded in a deadpan tone.

He smirked as he stood up, he then lifted and hauled her over his shoulder as she giggled heavily. He carried her toward a bungalow on the beach and whispered seductively, "I'll show you romantic."

* * *

Scorpius woke up squinting as his eyes were assaulted by rays from the bright sun coming through a bay window. He inhaled deeply and smiled as he caught the familiar smell of vanilla shampoo. Rose stirred as Scorpius gently caressed her bare back.

She lifted her head from his chest, looked up at him, and grinned. "Good morning," she whispered.

"Good morning, I love you," Scorpius answered.

Rose grinned wider. "I love you, too," she replied.

He kissed her on her forehead before stating, "I forgot to ask you something very important yesterday."

"Oh?" Rose asked genuinely curious.

"Yup, we got a little distracted," he responded while wiggling his eyebrows and cupping her bare arse.

Rose rolled her eyes. "What is it?"

"Well, I heard that _one_ of us wasn't sure if we were exclusive or not." Rose blushed deeply as he continued, "so I thought we should clear that up. Will you be my girlfriend?"

Rose smiled broadly as shivers ran down her spine. She giggled and nodded her head. She pulled him toward her and crushed her lips against his. She ran her hands against his chest making her way down his muscular torso. She parted her lips and gently took his bottom lip in between her teeth as her hands moved lower toward his manliness.

She frowned as Scorpius gently grabbed her hands and pulled away. Rose watched him confusingly as he took deep breaths. He flopped his head on a pillow and stared at the ceiling.

"So, what do you want to do today?" he asked her while still staring at the ceiling.

Rose sat up and stared down at him even more confused. "You, which I was doing before I was so rudely interrupted," she responded while raising an eyebrow.

"Well now that we are official, I figure that we should do this right."

Rose stared at him incredulously. "Not sure about you, but to _me_ having sex with you feels pretty right."

He laughed. "No, I mean, your 30-day rule."

"Oh."

He glanced at her bare chest before meeting her eyes. "It will be difficult but you're worth it to me, so we can take it slow. I want to respect your one month of continuous dating before sex rule," he stated confidently.

Rose stared back at him and smirked. "Well, that's sweet."

Scorpius gave her a quick peck on the lips while sitting up. "What do you want to do today? We should get dressed."

Rose pushed him back down on the bed and straddled him. He grunted. "Rose, you aren't helping this whole taking it slow thing," he protested with a growl.

She smirked at him while swirling her hips. "I said 'that's sweet', I _never_ said I agree to taking it slow."

Scorpius moaned while reveling in the sensation of her body moving against his. "Mmmm... but what about your rule?" he asked breathlessly.

He quietly gasped as she reached down and stroked his member.

"Scorpius, _fuck_ the rules," she whispered before sinking onto him.

* * *

A/N: Oh my goodness! I still can't believe I posted the first chapter and actually finished this fic! I started it at one of the most inopportune times in my life (in terms of having time to write it) but it has been such a cathartic experience for me so I'm glad that I did.

1\. I want to **thank** every single one of you who has read, followed, and favorited! I especially want to thank those who reviewed! Some of you reviewed multiple chapters! I'm not sure I would have continued this without your suggestions and encouragements! I personally will be reviewing A LOT more fics after experiencing firsthand how amazing and gratifying getting a new review is!

2\. Shameless (or shameful) plug for my new other fic: I've written one chapter of "The Real Rose Weasley"- a completely different ScorRose placing them at Hogwarts. This one is probably going to be long and it's rated T. So check it out if you want and you are not completely tired of me!

3\. I **obviously** want to know what you-all think about this chapter! So please tell me :). Let me know if you guys wanna see a sequel! I don't really have a plot in mind but I'm totally willing to hear your ideas for writing one! And of course let me know what you think about the whole fic now that it's complete!

Thanks again!

-YaYa


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